The West Fork baseball team (12-11, 7-7 TIC-EAST) delivered their first winning season since 2019 (22-9). The Warhawks concluded their season in a second straight Class 1A district final. The Warhawks record rose behind three different win streaks of three or more games, including three of their final four games. Head Coach Kayden Ames.
“A successful season, I would say. The guys believed that as well. Didn’t quite take the steps that we were hoping to take, but at the end of the day, we came through playing our best ball at the end of the year and made a run in the playoffs again,” says Ames. “Hitting the ball, really. The pitchers pitched pretty well throughout the whole year. That was a constant. We were solid in the field for the whole season. It was really just hitting. We hit the ball well overall all year long. When the bats were rolling, they were rolling, and that really helped getting a few win streaks there.”
Three Warhawks energized the batting order including Nolan Shreckengost with a .380 avg, Zander Hansen with a .338 avg and Braylon Shreckengost with a .333 avg. Hansen led the team with 22 RBIs. Ames on each batter’s presence in the box.
“Kind of new coming into the year what we were going to get from Nolan. He’s going to be a solid 350 plus hitter. Then Zander and Braylon, are two guys that have played since their eighth grade year. This was their sophomore season. It was only a matter of time before they took the jump and this year they really did that. They outdid expectations really. They were huge in taking that jump. They still got two years left. It’ll be exciting to see what they can do.”
The Warhawks graduate Trevor Despenas, Ashyr Wiseman, Nolan Shreckengost and Austin Carlson. Key projected returners include Hansen as this year’s team strikeout leader (47), Brett Behr who recorded the second most RBIs (21) and Braylon Shreckengost who had the third most RBIs (18).
