Rookies of the Year

MATTAWA - Rookie of the Year is never won by an entire team, but you could call Wahluke High School's baseball team rookies of the year.

It appears that, for the first time in two and a half seasons, Wahluke will have a baseball team. It will be Wahluke's varsity, but it will play a junior varsity schedule.

"They're trying to find games for us right now," coach Dan Oppelt said.

It will be tough. Most JVs are scheduled the same days as varsities. Wahluke will have to be creative.

Wahluke, which has won or competed for the state soccer title for a decade, dropped baseball midway through the 2012 season. There were simply not enough athletes for both programs. Baseball had dropped to 6-8 players at the time.

The school tried to revive baseball the next year and couldn't do it. There were only eight prospects. Last year, baseball was simply the forgotten sport.

But Principal Jeff Pietla and other administrators decided to try again this year. They convinced former assistant coach Oppelt to take the reins.

"We told the kids it was going to be a JV schedule so they'd know they were going to play against kids of their own skill level," Oppelt said.

The plan worked out well. Eighteen boys turned out the first day of practice and they're still out. Thirteen are sophomores and freshmen, or junior varsity age.

"At this point, every position is up for grabs, and it's fun watching the kids compete," Oppelt said. "Our goal is to get better every practice and work hard to be able to compete at the varsity level next year."

It may be a while before the team wins, even against a JV schedule. Only a few players have exhibited baseball skills. The rest will need to work hard to acquire them.

"Most of them have never played organized baseball," Oppelt said. "There is no little league to speak of."

The boys appear to realize the deck is stacked against them. They speak of themselves as underdogs.

But the boys are having fun and maintaining a sense of humor. When a coach asked one boy what position he was trying for, he said "batter." The coach asked again.

"I want to hit home runs," the player said.

The coach tried one more time, and the player said:

"I'll let you decide. Just watch me."

Right answer. The player went to his assigned spot, and practice started.

"The boys seem excited to be back on the diamond and look forward to playing baseball," Oppelt said. "Our primary focus will be teaching the game to kids that haven't had the opportunity to play competitive baseball."

According to Oppelt and assistant coach Ross Randleman, the players that are showing a lot of early promise are sophomores Felix Jimenez (1B, P), Leo Mendoza, Jose Madrigal, Diego Martinez and Carlos Testa (IF, OF, P) and Junior Alex Chiprez (SS, P), and senior Antonio Garcia (3B, CF, P).

Freshmen Carlos Martinez, David Ponce, Aaron Martinez, Jessie Heredia and Eric Barragan will also compete for playing time, and at least a couple of these ninth graders could become starters.