Shawano baseball players look to adapt to varsity quickly

By: 
Morgan Rode
Sports Editor

The Shawano Community High School baseball team is gearing up for its first true season under head coach Dustin Beyer.

Beyer was set to coach last spring before the coronavirus pandemic eliminated the spring season. Beyer helped coached a high school aged team during the summer, so at least some of the players got acquainted with the new coach that way.

Shawano was set to be a young and inexperienced team last spring, so not having a season only hurt players’ chances to get some varsity experience. Over the summer season, several players that will be on the roster this spring emerged as leaders.

Sophomore Ashton Henning (infield, pitcher), senior Zach Erdmann (infield, pitcher) and junior Andrew Popp (outfield, pitcher) were a couple of the team’s best hitters over the summer, and Beyer will look to the trio to lead the team this spring.

Helping the trio on the mound will be seniors Brandan Bushy and Aidan Berry. Both will see time at first base when not on the hill.

“We are excited about the depth of our pitching rotation, and will look to our two senior lefty pitchers, Brandan Bushy and Aidan Berry to anchor our staff this season,” said Beyer.

Helping fill out the team will be several other players that helped the summer team to a strong showing.

Senior Kaleb Lowney and sophomore Jacob Landon will play in the infield while junior Zac Jurmu and sophomore Braedyn Kowalkowski help out in the outfield.

Juniors Joey Sperberg, Carson Popp and Jacob Polzin are all potential pitchers Beyer can turn to. Sperberg plays in the outfield, while Popp and Polzin are infielders.

“The biggest challenge for us this season is the lack of varsity experience,” said Beyer. “The boys will have to learn fast and correct their mistakes quickly and move on to the next game. Our senior leadership will be a key factor into how well we can grow as a team throughout the year.”

“How I can help lead this team is by example and helping the younger guys out with understanding assignments or helping them get better so we can have a better chemistry bonding, working things out and by making the team better so we can face those tough matchups in the Bay Conference,” said Erdmann.

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