Morgan Swaim | Staff Writer
Wolves’s baseball has caught the eye of GNAC coaches around the conference as the team to beat heading into the 2018 season. This comes as no surprise, as the team has garnered respect due to previous success. Over the past five years, the Wolves had captured the GNAC title three times, including last year’s conference championship.
This year’s team will look to continue dominating opponents with their deep pitching rotation, despite the absence of last season’s ace, Brady Miller, getting drafted to the MLB in June 2017. The Wolves will have four returning pitchers from last year’s squad, with seniors Jake Simmons and Cam Walker leading the way.
A big part of the team’s chances to retain the conference championship is the play of key returning seniors, catcher Justin Wakem, and infielders Jay Leverett and Nyles Nygaard. Wakem was able to garner First Team All-GNAC honors last year, as he posted the second highest batting average (.368) in the entire league.
Returning infielder Jay Leverett will be looking to build upon his First Team All-GNAC junior season as well, hopefully receiving similar recognition for his play in 2018. Nygaard, who was a crucial part of the team’s past success in 2017, led the team in hits (51).
The rest of the GNAC conference will make it difficult for the Wolves to repeat,
with three other teams in the conference receiving at least one first place vote in
the first preseason poll. The team will begin their journey to back to back league
titles starting on the road in California on Feb. 8, against Biola University.
Contact the author at mswaim16@wou.edu
Photo by: wouwolves.com
