Riverhawk baseball keeps maturing

The Hawks, guided by longtime (17 years) Coach Steve Sugg, have a more experienced squad than a year ago, which consisted of 10 freshmen and no seniors. This year’s squad has two seniors, pitchers Drew Evans and Austin Agidius, who will help provide stability on the mound along with their leadership ability.

“I think we’ll have much better team this year and almost all the kids come back that played on the varsity squad last year and we also had a good summer season too, so I’m excited about the season,” said Sugg, whose assistant coaches include Ed Ortega, Bailey Ortega, Jim Shaver, and Ken Brock. “I’m glad things are kind of back to normal conditions now and hopefully things will stay that way.”

The Hawks started practice Feb. 28 with 32 players, up significantly from last year when they had 19. This year the Hawks will have enough players for both a junior varsity and a varsity squad. The Hawks didn’t have a JV team last year.

“We have a total of 15 freshmen, which is the most we’ve had in quite a few years and I’m excited about that,” said Sugg. “We’re a relatively young club, but we’re experienced with six juniors, and we have a lot of guys that had some valuable playing time last year. They played a lot of baseball last summer; they played a lot of games and they got lots of experience. These guys have really developed and matured a lot.”

Junior right handers, Braden Schwartz and Riley Brock, along with junior catcher Nathan Hedges will help provide the Hawks with an improved team that’s seeking to be more competitive in the IMC. The Hawks are hoping to qualify for the state playoffs for the first time since 2014.

“Braden and Riley had a great summer; they pitched a lot of innings, they developed and they’re a year stronger and they’re more mature now. Sophomore Sam Shaver, a left hander, will also pitch a lot for us, too,” Sugg said. “Braden was our best hitter last summer and I think that he’ll continue to have that role again for us as well this spring. Riley actually led our team in hitting last year and I expect him to be a strong force, too. Those two guys will be our main hitters along with Hedges, who can also swing the bat pretty well. We’ll be pretty solid one through nine.”

Schwartz and Brock will be relied on to drive in runs. Other players who are expected to help lead the Hawks include sophomores Cooper Cummings, Cooper Klindt and Nolan Donivan, and junior Evan Baldy.

“The strength of our team will definitely be our pitching and I’m a firm believer in having good pitching and strong defense,” said Sugg. “We’re young as far as upperclassmen, but we have lots of experience because everyone had lots of playing time last summer, so I’m really looking forward to the season. It’s going to be real competitive in the IMC, but I definitely think we can be one of the top three teams in our league so that we can reach the state playoffs.”

The Hood River Valley High Eagles are expected to be the IMC’s top team along with Pendleton. The Hawks are hoping to compete for one of the three state qualifying spots along with Redmond, Ridgeview, and Crook County.

Following Tuesday’s opener, the Hawks then play five consecutive road games, and their next home game is March 29 versus Forest Grove. The 26-game schedule includes 15 IMC contests with the league opener April 15 at home against the defending IMC champion Pendleton High Buckaroos.