Back on the diamond

The 2024 edition of Wayne Bulldog baseball hit the diamond on Tuesday in Ninnekah to kick off their season.

Last year, Wayne was beat out in Districts by Empire on a walk-off in the last inning.

Returners from that squad include seniors Wyatt Webster, Casey Kane, Logan Taylor and Braden McClendon. Juniors returning this season are Jaxon Dill, Ty Kemp and Duke Moore.

Returning sophomores are Ben Fisher, Maverick Danker and Cameron Davis.

With only a few practices under their belt, fourth year head coach Shane Collins thinks his squad will have a decent showing this year.

“I feel good about this team. It’s tough to replace kids like Kaleb and Rhett from the infield, but this group is getting better everyday,” Collins said.

The season is still very young, but Collins has his guys pretty well set at each position.

Dill and McClendon will split pitching duties. Collins has other guys to come in in relief, but he’ll lean on those guys the most.

Filling out the infield will be Sloan Jackson at catcher, Kane at first, Taylor at second, Webster at third and Kemp at short stop.

Dill and Kemp could also see playing time at short stop.

“We have all of our pitching returning except Kaleb this year. And, I know that wherever Ty and Wyatt are on the field, we’ll be good.”

Fisher will be in left field, McClendon will be in centerfield and Moore will be in right field.

Last season’s squad was aggressive on the basepaths, thanks to their speed. However, that is not one of their strengths this year.

“We’re much slower this year. We’ll have to be smarter and play actual baseball; hit people in,” Collins said.

Another facet of their game that will be a focus of improvement is hitting.

“We didn’t hit the ball well in our scrimmage. It’s something we’ll have to work on and it will take time. I know we can be hitting our stride by late in the season.”

Two teams that Collins and the Bulldogs have their eyes on are Wynnewood and Empire.

“Wynnewood is always a good game. They beat us three times last year and it’s always a tight game.

“Empire is another team we’re eager to play. They beat us out of districts and I know the guys would be happy to avenge that loss.”

The Bulldogs are hosting Bray-Doyle today.

“They had some guys who pitched well last year so I imagine they’ll be better. It should be a tough game to start the season; we’ll have to play well to beat them,” Collins said.

Wayne is back on the road at Thackerville on Monday. Then they host Wewoka and Wynnewood on Tuesday.