Young Tigers baseball squad pushes for successful season

Coach: Matthew Morgan.

Last season: 7-10 overall, 6-6 in Great River Conference, lost in first round of Section 7AA tournament.

Key returnees: Seniors Cole Glenna and Nolan Stepp, juniors Logan Kirby, Nathan Pace and Noah Pace.

Outlook: The Tigers comes off a back-and-forth 2023 season where the team lost four valuable seniors to graduation in the offseason.

Seniors Glenna and Stepp will aim to fill those voids this year and step up to the plate when it matters most.

“Both have extensive experience and they will each be leaned on greatly to lead our young group,” Morgan said. “[Glenna] is primed for a huge season.”

Stepp, another four-year starter, will pitch and play the shortstop position while bringing a career on-base percentage of .487.

Morgan hopes his young team will take a step forward this season.

“We want to be competitive in the conference and hopefully be in the mix for a conference championship,” he said. “Our big goal is to leave each practice as a better unit than we started that day.

“If we control ourselves to the absolute best of our ability each day, each rep, we feel we put ourselves in the best position to be as successful as we can be.”

Being a young group can certainly be a tough challenge to overcome. But Morgan is optimistic.

“We are indeed a fairly young squad; we lost a lot of experience and leadership,” he said. “We have a hungry group that likes to compete and are ready to prove themselves at the varsity level.

“I think the biggest obstacle we face will be guys figuring out their roles and learning to mesh together on the field.”