New-look Mavericks hit the field

MOSES LAKE — With nine seniors graduating off of last year’s state-qualifying Moses Lake baseball team, the Mavericks will look quite different this spring.

Moses Lake will have two returning starters from last year’s unit, with many new faces stepping into bigger roles this season.

“Getting the young guys going, and getting them to understanding what Moses Lake baseball is about — we’re repetition after repetition, we do the fundamentals every single day and we do the little things and try to put pressure on them from the get-go,” Moses Lake Head Coach Donnie Lindgren said. “They’re starting to catch on a little bit. We’re looking forward to this year.”

The Mavericks qualified for their fourth straight state tournament a season ago, falling 5-4 in the first round to No. 4 seed Olympia. With nearly half of last year’s squad now graduated, Lindgren said the eagerness to learn by this year’s younger players has stood out through early practices.

“They’re willing to try a bunch of different things, new things,” Lindgren said. “They’ve been taught by my coaches throughout, but it’s always different moving up to the varsity level. Their hard work and determination has really caught our eye.”

Moses Lake does return 2023 starters in junior Cruz Martinez and senior Jayce Stuart; Stuart is one of four Maverick seniors hitting the diamond this spring.

“Their responsibility too is when we’re coaching one group, those guys have to help out and coach the other guys,” Lindgren said. “We’re putting a lot of ownership on our returning varsity players to bring these young guys along, because it’s going to be their season.”

Stuart is the lone senior returning as a full-time starter from a season ago, where he served as Moses Lake’s shortstop.

“He was a great surprise last year,” Lindgren said. “He really anchored our infield for us and did a great job in the middle of the infield. He was outstanding for us as a junior, so we’re looking forward to big things from Jayce this year as well.”

With both of 2023’s starting pitchers now gone, Lindgren said juniors Cooper Hancock and Kason Whitaker will handle the bulk of the workload on the mound, with younger pitchers stepping in as needed in a “pitcher-by-committee” approach.

“We’ve got some other guys that are working hard to get some mound time, but right now, those two are probably our top two,” Lindgren said.

Flying under the radar has been the team’s theme so far this season, Lindgren said.

“That’s kind of our theme this year – we’re kind of the outsiders, is what we’re calling ourselves,” Lindgren said. “You’ve got the Wenatchee schools, the Tri-Cities schools, the Yakima schools, the Spokane schools — We’re just putting in our time, and everyone’s, hopefully, going to look past us.”

Moses Lake opens the 2024 season Saturday at home against Hazen. First pitch is at 12:30 p.m.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Moses Lake Baseball Schedule

March 9 - vs Hazen - 12:30 p.m.

March 12 - at Pasco - 4 p.m.

March 15 - vs Chiawana - 1 p.m.

March 19 - at Sunnyside - 3 p.m.

March 22 - vs Sunnyside (doubleheader) - 3 p.m.

March 26 - vs Eisenhower - 4 p.m.

March 29 - at Eisenhower (doubleheader) - 4 p.m.

April 2 - at Eastmont - 4 p.m.

April 5 - vs Eastmont (doubleheader) - 3 p.m.

April 16 - vs Davis - 5 p.m.

April 19 - at Davis (doubleheader) - 4 p.m.

April 23 - at Wenatchee - 5 p.m.

April 26 - vs Wenatchee - 4 p.m.

April 30 - vs West Valley (Yakima) - 5 p.m.

May 3 - at West Valley (Yakima) (doubleheader) - 4 p.m.

    Moses Lake junior Adrian Martinez, right, makes contact with a pitch during a game against West Valley (Yakima) last season.
  

    Moses Lake junior Jackson Carlos, right, gets ready to run to first base after making contact with a pitch.