The 2013-2014 baseball season did not end the way that the William Jewell College baseball team wanted. If the team had won their last game, they would have advanced to the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) tournament, however, the team fell to Truman State, ending their season.
“I was proud of us be that close [to the tournament], but it was a disappointing end to the season,” Head Coach Mike Stockton said. The team ended up finishing the season with 19 wins and 30 losses.
Stockton, in his 13th year at Jewell, and the Cardinals are thrilled to start the new season, with some fresh new faces on the field.
“Our new first-years are possibly the strongest and most athletic class I’ve ever seen,” Stockton said.
Bryan Rezin, senior and accounting major, echoes Stockton’s sentiments about the first years.
“They’re athletic guys who are buying into our system and want to learn from the upper classmen,” Rezin said.
The team opened up play last weekend at Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma, and won two of the three games they played, batting .308 at the plate.
“This series gave us a winning mindset,” Rezin said.
The 2013-2014 softball season ended during the GLVC tournament, in which the team finished fourth. The team finished fifth overall during regular season play.
Head Coach Dustin Combs looks forward to future games and a fresh start as he starts his ninth season at the College.
“Overall it wasn’t exactly the finish we wanted, however, it was a year filled with a lot of adversity. We were very pleased with last year’s effort and know that it was a year that we can definitely build on going into this season,” Combs said.
The coach praises his team for thier work ethic.
“We have been able to be outside a lot this early spring, and we feel we are further along than we are most years going into the season opener,” Combs said.
Pithcer Faith Song, senior, said, “We have all been working really, really hard. The first-years are all-in and ready to learn.”
The chemistry between the upperclassmen and the firstyears should bode well for the Cardinals, who are currently predicted to finish fifth in the GLVC.
“It’s a great spot for us. It gives us a chance to show the rest of league what we’re made of,” Song said.