SOLON — “The WaMaC East is unforgiving in baseball, and anyone can beat anyone else on any given night.” So said Keith McSweeney, head baseball coach. He’s in his 24th season leading the Spartans with a 581-311 career record. Last year the boys finished the season at 21-18 after a 7-5 upset loss to Maquoketa in the first round of Class 3A districts.
Michael Pipolo, Jacob Timmons, Kinnick Pusteoska, Colin Werner, Parker Pentico, and Logan Gruchow were lost to graduation.
Stepping up are five returning starters – senior Blake Timmons, juniors Brett White, Gehrig Turner, and Tyson Wheeler, and sophomore Jackson Link. Timmons, a second baseman and pitcher, hit with a .397 average last year with nine doubles, 24 stolen bases, pitched 25 innings, and went 2-1 on the mound. He earned 2nd Team All-District honors as an infielder. White, the shortstop, hit with a .482 average with 14 doubles, seven homers, and 45 RBIs. He also stole 40 bases and earned 1st Team All-State honors at infield. Turner, a catcher by trade, hit .330 with nine doubles and four homers including two against WaMaC West rival Clear Creek Amana. He drove in 33 runs and earned 1st Team All-District as catcher.
Wheeler, an outfielder, hit .310 and drove in 19 runs while Link was a utility man with a .234 average.
Also back in the Spartans’ line up are juniors Vince Steinbrech and Brick Kabela, and sophomore Ty Bell.
Steinbrech, a pitcher and utility, spent 30 innings on the bump with a 4-4 record and 5.08 ERA.
Kabela, coming off another successful track season as a distance man, is a pitcher with 30 innings last year, a 3-1 record, and 3.23 ERA. Bell, also a pitcher and utility, worked the mound for 28 innings with a 1-4 record and 5.25 ERA.
Among the newcomers is Nolan Seagren, a sophomore utility.
“We are still a work in progress,” said McSweeney. “We have some key returning hitters (White, Timmons, and Turner), but the rest of our offensive lineup is still developing.” Ultimately, he said, the key to Solon’s success this season lies with the pitching staff. The coach said they will have to, “take another step and compete on the mound every night, regardless of who gets the ball. We need to pound the strike zone and limit free bases if we’re going to have a shot at a postseason run.”
Last year Solon finished fourth in the WaMaC East behind West Delaware (16-8/32-11), Beckman Catholic (16-8/25-14), and Marion (15-9/25-11) with a 14-10 conference record. This year, McSweeney says, all eyes are on the Wolves. “Marion is the clear favorite and everyone else will be chasing them.”
The Spartans will face Marion in a June 5 doubleheader in Marion.
In other games of note, Solon will host the Fight for Flash games (honoring the memory of Austin “Flash” Schroeder, who lost his battle with cancer in 2015 at the age of 15) for the third consecutive year Saturday, June 10. The games raised over $22,000 to benefit the fight against pediatric cancer last year. Solon will face City High at 11:00 a.m., Iowa City West and Regina Catholic tangle at 1:30 p.m., and Clear Creek Amana and Liberty High will meet at 4:00 p.m. there will also be a youth tournament on the adjacent diamonds.
Assisting McSweeney this season will be Solon Alum Scott Shulista and Tim Wheeler. ,Shulista returns after serving as Cornell’s assistant coach (2017-2022). He previously was McSweeney’s assistant from 2007-2016 while Wheeler has been with the Spartans since 2010.
The season opened Monday, May 15 with a doubleheader at Bettendorf High School and the first home game was against Muscatine Tuesday, May 16.
Mount Vernon will visit for a doubleheader Tuesday, May 23 starting at 5:00 p.m.