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Winners in Both Dugouts as New Teams Take the Field Wednesday, March 25, 2009 |
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Despite the 4-3 final score in favor of Waverly, both the Vikings and Yutan Chieftains were winners Tuesday afternoon at Itan Park in Yutan. Players blew on tingling red fingers to warm them on a chilly, gray March afternoon, then took the field to compete for their high schools for the third time this season, a routine act that most spring season ballplayers and their families take for granted. But for Waverly and Yutan players every game of the 2009 season is the result of a hard-earned victory that has already been recorded in the scorebook.
"Getting this team onto the field was a long time coming," observed Waverly parent Middy Hughes, whose son Ryan was the winning pitcher in Tuesday's contest. Hughes, Dale Luber and other pro-baseball parents lobbied the Waverly School Board for about a year and half before the Board approved the addition of baseball as a spring sport. "Before we came along, there were parents three or fours years ago who tried to get it going, but the Board didn't feel that there was enough interest. Dale and I would drag kids down to the Board meetings and try to persuade them to give these kids a chance. I don't like talking in front of people, but that's what it took, so that's what I did. Finally, our athletic director, Jack Guggenmos, conducted a survey of incoming students that showed that that there were plenty of kids interested and that the other spring sports wouldn't suffer. That finally got us over the hump. We talked to the folks at Seward and some folks at Nebraska City about how they got their programs going, and it finally all started coming together. A lot of credit goes to Mr. Guggenmos."
Mr. Hughes was emotional when describing the first time the team took the field this season. "We opened against Northeast last Thursday at Den Hartog. It was a beautiful day, and the stands were just packed full of people wearing Maroon and White. It's hard to describe . . .," he said as his voice trailed off. "It's just all for the kids. We just want these guys to have fun. If they win some games, that's just icing on the cake."
The survey conducted by Mr. Guggenmos may have actually understated the level of interest in baseball at Waverly. As it turns out, fifty-two aspiring ballplayers tried out for the thirty-three roster spots on the Varsity and Junior Varsity teams. New head coach Mike Goodrich and his assistant coach and long time friend, Gene Lessman, were very pleased with the turnout and the quality of ballplayers coming into the new program. "We've got some very good athletes," observed Goodrich. "There's a lot of learning to be done as we make the transition to high school baseball, but we're going to be all right. We blew a 9-1 lead the other day against Norris with nine defensive errors, but we'll just keep after it. We'll be all right."
Tuesday's outcome confirmed Coach Goodrich's confident assessment as the Vikings didn't let this one slip away. Waverly jumped out to a 4-0 lead with two runs in the 3rd and two more in the fourth and then held on for the program's first-ever win after Yutan rallied back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Jacob Weichel, a junior who had two hits on the day, doubled in two of the runs, and Luber's son Jeremiah, a muscular senior, drove in a run and scored a run on Brett Sales' double. Junior righthander Ryan Hughes threw 4 1/3 innings, allowing only two hits, and struck out six to earn his first varsity win. The Chieftains' comeback was fueled by a two-run base hit by junior Nate Raver and a run-scoring base hit by sophomore Tyler Peitzmeier. Senior Eric Johnson also had a base hit for the Chieftains.
Meanwhile, looking out over the game from the elevated press box behind home plate, Yutan Activities Director Dan Tietjen was pleased to see Coach John Arensberg's young Chieftains battling back from a four-run deficit to make it a one-run game. "This has been great for the kids and for the community," commented Tietjen. "We had great weather for our opening game here at home and had a huge turnout from the whole community. Our longtime Legion coach, Greg Woster, threw out the first pitch. It was a big moment. And, then we took a 4-3 lead into the top of the 7th in our first game, so it was a close one. It was a lot of fun. This is just the start of more and more teams in our area adding baseball. Arlington and Mt. Michael will be coming along next year, so it's great to be a part of what's happening with baseball. We're excited to be here."
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