By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
The Whitewater High School baseball team began its 2015 season with a 6-5 overall record. The next eight games, however, went the other direction. The Whippets went 1-7 in its final eight and lost in the first round of the WIAA Tournament.
For 2016, head coach Jim Pease will be in only his second season, but he brings back a lot of experience with him from a year ago. Pease talked about how the team has to play good defense and perform well situationally when hitting.
“We should be very strong on defense and pitching,” Pease said. “We have some good hitting, but how we handle the bat will show more as the games get going.
“We have four seniors this year, but we are more experienced than just them. We are returning eight starters from last year (four seniors, two juniors and two sophomores). They all played a huge role last season, so even though some of them are young, they have at least one full year of varsity experience.”
Despite how the team’s schedule played out last season, when reflecting on it, Pease said that anybody who saw his team play at the end of the year would know that they got better since the start of the season and that they worked hard. This year, he said the beginning point is in a very different spot, thanks to all the players returning.
Pease said he expects to be up toward the top of the Rock Valley Conference (RVC). The RVC a year ago was controlled by Jefferson and Edgerton, both going 14-2 in conference play. The Whippets finished with a 6-10 record.
When asked about the overall talent on this year’s team, Pease made it a point not to single any player out. He talked about all of his guys, even noting freshmen who not only push the older players, but should get varsity action throughout the season.
Pease also talked about how a senior captain, Julian Sonn, is overcoming a knee injury from basketball over the off-season.
“He will probably miss a few games this year, but will be ready to go very soon and we are excited to get him back,” Pease said. “He is a great leader on the field and has one of the best bats on our team to go along with being a very good infielder as well.”
The 2016 season will start with a 4:45 p.m. game on Thursday against Clinton at Clinton High School. The Whippets’ first home game will begin at 4:45 p.m. as well, on April 14 against McFarland.
