Jake Furr | Spring prep sports predictions – Bucyrus Telegraph Forum
The spring sports season, one of my personal favorites, is so incredibly fast paced, it seems there is something going on every single night. It helps that baseball is my favorite sport.
So, to keep the weekly trend going, I am going to offer up my spring sports predictions for area schools.
Baseball predictions
The Bucyrus Redmen had a loaded pitching staff last season, but it suffered from lack of run support. After finishing 10-16 last season, the Redmen lose four seniors including a trio of pitchers and the only two players who logged innings at catcher. They do bring back ace Gavin Lewis and lock down second baseman Ryan Evans. Trenton Dunford comes back to the hot corner. Those three will be crucial for Bucyrus’ success next season.
Final Record Prediction: 16-10
Wynford grabbed the Northern 10 Conference championship in 2016 thanks to pitching and defense. Qyenton Stone and Kyle DeJean depart from the pitching staff that logged 19 wins and took the Royals to the district final game. But the Royals still return a lot of talent. Caleb Stone turned into a wall of a catcher and older brother Trey Stone was the TF player of the year. Wyatt Smith is a star in the making and Jalon Brown is a lock down shortstop. Throw in Blake Williamson and Bryden Oberlander and the Royals have some of the best baseball talent in the area. They will have to overcome the departure of head coach Joe Staab who returned home to Clear Fork.
Final Record Prediction: 20-6
The Colonel Crawford Eagles haven’t had a strong history of baseball performances in recent years, but I think that is about to change. Sure they lose their shortstop in Derek Burkhart, but they return just about everybody from the 13-12 team from last season. Jake Johnson has the potential to be the best pitcher in the area and Blake Treisch has so much power at the plate, he could be a game changer with one pitch. Noah Thoman is a door-slamming relief pitcher and Ethan Studer adds depth to the pitching staff while offering coach Joe Swartzmiller the ability to use him at any position.
Final Record Prediction: 17-9
The Buckeye Central Bucks may have the best baseball tradition of any team in the area. After going 11-15 last season, the Bucks lost nine seniors. Usually, losing that many players would gut a program, but the Bucks seem to always have the ability to rebound. Coach Chad Jensen is one of the best in the business at getting the most from his players. Trent Craft and Jacob Shade add two pitchers with a lot of potential and two power bats to a team with a lot of questions. Kidron Wechter and Josh Dentinger bring back experience and leadership. With an N10 schedule that makes it tough for the Bucks to compete with larger schools, they will have to rely on their nonconference schedule to prepare for tournament time.
Final Record Prediction: 16-10
Softball Predictions
Softball has become my favorite sport to cover. A lot of that has to do with the great talent of the area and that includes the Colonel Crawford Eagles. Coach Chuck Huggins is a legend and he is about to be at it again in 2017. Though they lose Jada Klingenberger and Lexi Hopef up the middle along with role players Taylor Lutz and Mariah Scott, the Eagles bring back N10 player of the year Sydney Studer. Add in Karissa Rowlinson, Lydia Strouse, Alexus Burkhart and Abbie Bradshaw, the Eagles have a solid core of players to build around. Players like Stephanie Huggins, Kerry Reynolds, Des Sharp, Karlie Kurtzman, Caitlin Koschnick, Abbi Teglovic and Jensyn Fredritz will be looked at to step into some very important roles.
Final Record Prediction: 20-4
The Bucyrus Lady Red is another team with some questions to answer after losing their star pitcher Toni Zeigler. But the Lady Red return some of the best young talent on the softball diamond and senior leader Loarel Mollenkopf. Lauren Kohler and Isidora Burling are back along with Cameille Roski and Brooklyn Spears. Alexis Dye is a star in the making with great homerun power. Offensively, the Lady Red will be fine. They just need to find a pitcher to fill the big shoes left by Zeigler.
Final Record Prediction: 16-8
The Wynford Royals have endured some tough years on the diamond, but head coach Jamee Burke is a Pudge Hargis product and that spells a bright future for the Royals. Wynford does not lose a single player from last season so it returns the most experience of any team in the area. Though, it will still be young with three seniors. So it may still be a year away, but that doesn’t mean it may not surprise people next season.
Final Record Prediction: 12-12
Buckeye Central was young last season as well. I fully expect The Bucks to have a break out 2017 with returners like Haley Green and Emma Studer. Though, they will have to overcome the retiring of long-time head coach Roger Durnwald. Losing a softball mind like that will have its effects.
Final Record Prediction: 14-10
Track and Field Predictions
Instead of going team by team, I think I should give you some names to keep in mind for next season. Chad Johnson of Colonel Crawford is a familiar name and get used to hearing it a lot. I think he will be the state champion in the 3,200 meters next year and the year after that. Alizaha Watson of Wynford is a star in the making. He will make the trip to the Jesse O for the next three years and Kirsten Vehrs of Colonel Crawford could be the top female returning in the area. Hayley McCoy of Wynford is a stellar 400-meter runner and Harley Robinson of Bucyrus is as athletic as they get. Carson Pirnstill is a great distance runner at Bucyrus and Jack Reed of Wynford can run the 800 with the best of them. Robbie Miller may join forces with Watson to continue the relay tradition at Wynford.
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Twitter: @JakeFurr11
