The Canute Trojans enter the spring baseball season with high expectations after a strong showing in the fall.
The team advanced to the state tournament, but they were knocked out by Silo in the semifinal. Trojans head coach Taylor Varnell says that experience his team had last season will be beneficial for them this spring.
“We finished the fall with a 28-8 record and made it to the state tournament,” Varnell said. “For a lot of our boys, it was their first time playing in the state tournament so it was good for them to get experience on that stage before we try to make another run at it this spring. I expect the same type of success from the team this season.”
At the beginning of the fall season, Varnell’s squad had to make a bit of an adjustment. Most of the members of the team were either seniors or freshmen, which left a gap in experience and ability. But as the season progressed, the seniors seemed to develop well as leaders and some of the younger players stepped up.
Two seniors that the Trojans will look to for leadership this season are Kasen Legrand and Kyron Whinery. Legrand plays center field and hit .566 in the fall with twelve home runs and 46 RBIs. Playing third base, Whinery has fast reflexes and can make things happen. In the fall, he hit .413 with five home runs, drove in 40 runs, and served as the closer on the mound.
“My expectations for this team this season is nothing less than a gold ball,” said Legrand. “Fall ball in Oklahoma is as tough as it gets with there only being two classes and we beat all the odds and made it back to state after graduating the most talented class to ever come through Canute. So needless to say, if we aren’t playing on the last Saturday of the season then we failed to meet our goal.
“As for my personal expectations, my goal this spring is to lead Class A in all offensive categories and lead my team to a state title, make All-State, and be named small school player of the year. I believe I have the coaches and teammates to make all these goals happen.”
Another player to keep an eye on this season is freshman Jake Beutler. On the mound in the fall, he pitched in a lot of big games, posting a 3.16 ERA and only allowed a .203 batting average to opposing lineups. At the plate, he hit .425 and drove in 45 runs. He will look to continue to make a big impact both offensively and defensively for Canute.
While he has high expectations for his team this season, Varnell also knows that they will have to overcome some things.
“The biggest challenge we’ll face this season is continuing to try and mesh as a team since our younger and older players don’t have a lot of experience sharing the field with one another” Varnell sais,” but after a full fall season of playing together, I look for them to have a strong spring season.”
