Prep baseball: Eagles coach has high expectations for squad

Published 10:32 am Monday, March 20, 2023

JOSEPH — What better way to start the season than a matchup against the defending 3A state champions?

While that wasn’t the originally scheduled plan, that’s exactly what the Wallowa Valley Eagles baseball team did last week with a game in Bend against South Umpqua. The neutral-site matchup against the Lancers ended in a 13-5 loss, but there were positives to build off of for the Eagles and head coach Zack Grover, especially considering the team has barely had normal practice conditions given the snow in Wallowa County. Grover said the Eagles committed just one error in the Friday, March 17 opener.

“We’re at a huge disadvantage obviously in Wallowa County as far as our weather. We haven’t even been on a baseball field. We got outside a couple times to throw, did some infield work in the outfield,” Grover said March 19. “For the most part, our kids haven’t seen a baseball field as far as legit playing conditions. There was a lot of good things when you take that into consideration, our first time on the field against the defending state champs.”

The weekend ended with a loss to La Pine and a win against Heppner with respective scores of 13-10 and 9-7. Those were games in which the head coach was more pleased with his team’s pitching.

Despite the 1-2 start, Grover is optimistic about what the team is capable of this season.

“I’m pleased with where we are at,” he said. “A lot more positive than negative.”

He said the Eagles are full of talent, and he was straightforward about his goals for the team, which includes winning an outright 3A Special District 3 title, getting a home playoff game and making a deep postseason run.

“A key to how well and how far (we’ll go), is if we have a couple leaders step up, and what’s going to be huge in my mind is if we come together as a team, as well,” he said. “I’m a no-excuse type of person.”

Among the returners on the diamond are Jaxon Grover, Caden Fent, Cody Fent, Drew Beachy, Maclane Melville, Kyler McQuead, Gabe Nobles and Lane Rouse.

“We’ve got quite a bit of experienced kids who have been in the program a little while, but we have several new ones who are having to step up and fill big holes on the varsity side,” Zack Grover said.

“I think we’re pretty well-rounded. We have some returners from last year that were first-team all-league defenders, those (are) coming back,” he said.

Most of the pitching staff is back from a team that reached the state playoffs a year ago, as well. The team’s roster on OSAA features nine athletes who have the ability to log innings, and the depth should be a strength for the Eagles.

In fact, most of the roster returns, with just three players graduating off last year’s squad, and any one of them, in Grover’s mind, could be that leader the Eagles need.

“We don’t have anybody who has stepped up and become our vocal leader yet, (but) a couple of the seniors are right there,” he said. “The team needs to figure it out and have leaders come out among ourselves.”

The Eagles play a road-heavy schedule that doesn’t see them play at home until April 7 in its District 3 opener against Burns. That doubleheader kicks off an eight-game homestand that, until the postseason, features Wallowa Valley’s only scheduled home contests.

If the leadership matches the team’s talent, though, the team could meet Grover’s high expectations, including more home games in the playoffs — and he has let them know that.

“I’ve been really clear from day one with these kids (that) I’ve set goals of where I want them at,” he said, referring to the district title and playoff aspirations.

“I don’t want them to just be satisfied with making the playoffs,” he added. “Let’s go beyond that.”