2020 seniors: Zack Johnson, Cole Diffenbaugh, Gage Gerlach, Tanner Nelson, Trey Greer, Matt Beyer (not pictured: Hunter Dye)
MHS - Baseball / March 12, 2020 By Kasey McDowell
The Mulvane Baseball team has been hitting the practice field for almost 2 weeks now and they are looking to repeat their good run at state they had last season as they finished in 3rd place in 4A State in 2019, the best finish for the Mulvane Baseball team since their state championship in 1986.
The Cats surprised the top seed Andale in regionals and took down Clay Center to win regionals and they blanked the top seed Wichita Trinity in the state tournament 7-0 but fell to Nickerson in a close 6-7 loss.
"I'm very excited about the upcoming season. We have quite a few returners back from last year's team. With that comes both good and bad. The expectations will be high this season after our good run at the end of last season and all of our returning experience. But that also means we have to work even harder to live up to meet those higher expectations," said Coach Nelson.
The returning seniors are Cole Diffenbaugh, Gage Gerlach, Hunter Dye, Trey Greer, Tanner Nelson, Zach Johnson, and Matt Beyer. Gage and Hunter are returning 1st team All-League and 2nd Team All-State selections from the 2019 season. Gage led the team in batting average last year batting .433 and Hunter led the team on the mound and finished with 5 wins and 2 losses and a 2.20 ERA.
"This is a great group of kids though and I feel blessed to be able to be around them on a daily basis. From what I have seen in the first two weeks they aren't afraid to work hard and they aren't showing any signs of overconfidence. Along with the solid group of returners, we also have a good number in our freshman class. They have done an excellent job in the first two weeks and really seem to bring a lot of baseball knowledge and talent. I'm very excited to see how we do," said Coach Nelson.
The Cats will have their annual alumni scrimmage on Saturday, March 21st from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM and their first games will be on Monday, March 30th at Circle.
The 2020 schedule is as follows (all games double headers):
* Mar 30 (Mon) / 4:00 PM @ Circle
* Apr 2 (Thu) / 4:00 PM @ Clearwater
* Apr 9 (Thu) / 4:00 PM VS Andale
* Apr 13 (Mon) / 4:00 PM @ Buhler
* Apr 23 (Thu) / 4:00 PM VS Rose Hill
* Apr 27 (Mon) / 4:00 PM @ Winfield
* Apr 30 (Thu) / 4:00 PM VS Wellington
* May 4 (Mon) / 3:00 PM @ Belle Plaine
* May 7 (Thu) / 3:00 PM @ Wichita Collegiate
* May 11 (Mon) / 4:00 PM @ Augusta
