Starting his third year at the helm of the Northwestern baseball team, coach Todd Houseman knows that an improvement has to be made from last year’s 12-18 season.

He fully expects that to happen as the season gets underway around Ohio this Saturday.

“I am excited for the start of the season,” Houseman said. “The kids are ready to go, and we have some returning guys who have worked real hard in the off-season and have done a good job.”

“Since we could start working out in the gym, a lot of the guys showed up because they wanted to have a better season.”

Most of the kids in the program have worked in the off-season which will also help this team put together a better season in 2016.

“A lot of guys played some good baseball in the summer,” Houseman said. “When I got here, we kept 30 kids in the program and only like 5 played travel ball. This year we kept 29 and 19 of them are playing summer and travel ball. The talent is better, but if you want to get better you have to play in the summer.”

“So far the kids are excited and are showing good leadership, they are just not out there for another sport, some of them really love this sport. It has been a good two weeks so far.”

Several key seniors lead the way for the Warriors, including a pair of first-team all-conference players.

Cole Brewer returns as an all-conference player and will play third base and pitch for Northwestern.

“He is a big kid,” Houseman said, stating Brewer is 6-foot-4, 200, and has been a stable part of the program the last couple of years.

Also back is Cole Baldwin, who is another first-team all-conference returning player in centerfield.

Sharing the catching duties last year was Brenden Huber, as the senior who will move to the outfield this season.

“He is another kid who played good summer ball, and loves the ball,” Houseman said.

Four other seniors also look to make an impact on the squad, including Dalton Lee, who will pitch and play outfield, along with Blake Speakman (pitcher, infield), JD McMahan and Cody Briggs (outfield).

Going into the season, junior Derek Whip will be handling the catching duties, while fellow junior Spencer Rinaldi returns to play the shortstop position.

“He has put in a lot of work the last couple of years in the weight room,” Houseman said. “He plays a good brand of summer baseball and has gotten better. Spencer could also see some time on the mound for us this year.”

Another returning player is junior Tanner White, who is expected to be in right field for the Warriors, along with doing some pitching this season.

Sophomore Gage Vorhees will start at second after coming up at the end of his freshman year. He also pitched some solid games last season, and Houseman is counting on him to have a solid year.

Another talented sophomore will be Christian Highfield, who played some infield and pitched for the Warriors. Evan Crew, yet another sophomore, was out last year due to an ACL injury, and this is his first year of high school baseball.

“He plays in the summer, and has healed up and is a good leftie for us,” Houseman said.

Rounding out the roster will be Jake Parks, who is in his first year of varsity and will help both on the mound and the infield.

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