Cody Thiessen is in his first season at the helm of the Calumet baseball team. With the team making it to the state semifinals last fall – its first appearance in 45 years – he is looking forward to a strong spring season from his squad.
“We have a very high ceiling and future for our program this year and for the next several years,” Thiessen said. “We have a great group of young players spread throughout our high school and junior high. We also have great leadership with the two seniors that we have. Caleb Meschberger and Wyatt Dean will both be important parts of our success this season. Our culture is what we will strive to maintain at an elite level moving forward.”
The Chieftains have a stable of guys that can take the mound on any day and lead them to victory. They will depend on starting pitchers Kyler Thiessen and Hunter Arnold to be successful this season.
“Kyler is a righty sophomore that has a plus fastball along with two great secondary pitches. Hunter is a lefty Junior that has great command of the zone and really uses his plus curveball to set hitters up for his fastball,” Thiessen said. “On the offensive side, we have great team speed and really average hitters. Dalton Belcher is a junior that has the ability to hit for power and lead us in several hitting categories. He plays the infield along with Kyler depending on who is pitching which determines where they each play on the left side of the infield.
“Kaleb Thiessen, a switch-hitting freshman, led the team in most of the offensive categories last fall. Kyler, who hits third, leads the team in RBIs and OBS. Kingston Arnold, the brother of Hunter, is also a freshman that led the team in home runs last fall. Kingston, like Kaleb, is a great athlete that can play anywhere on the diamond at a high level.”
While all aspects of the game are important, the Chieftains depend heavily on solid pitching day in and day out.
“Our team identity is based on playing the whole game by using our team speed and high baseball instincts,” coach Thiessen said. “We believe in having as much pitching as possible and developing almost everyone on our roster to have the ability to compete on the mound.”
As they head into this new season, Thiessen and his squad know what they need to do in order to be successful.
“Every year brings new challenges to a team,” he said. “For us, I think we just need to understand that our culture is what we make it, and that determines our future as an elite baseball program that we want to become here at Calumet. Players will need to continue to buy into our coach’s instructions and understand that every day is a chance to get better.”
