Coaches Corner

With us on coach's corner, KWBG, get a chance to put a wrap on Ogden baseball season. Head coach Scott Church joining us as the Bulldogs had season come to an end and tell you what you're looking to get as far as you can get. And nothing wrong with the distance that the Bulldogs did, took on a real solid rolling story team that knocked them out of the postseason. And we'll get to that here in just a few. But first off, Scott, I guess coming back and going into the season, I think you knew what you had, which was a real big senior class, a bunch of kids that really liked the game. What else did you know about this team, though, Scott, before you guys stepped on the field? We were confident in where we could end up at. Going into every year, right? We want to see how we grow out to grow through the season. And that's what this team did. They grew through the season. And we always wanted to be playing our best baseball towards the end. And I felt we did that again. And we wanted to make that postseason run. And this team has done it back to back years. They went to the district championship in both years and gave us the chance to get an opportunity to play in a sub-state game. And we just ran into a really, really solid rolling story team. But again, this team played a tremendous baseball throughout the year. They just got better and better. And I couldn't be more proud of them. Had a couple of close losses to start the year. Woodward Granger got you by one. Interstate 35 in the second of a doubleheader. Beach at 2-0. We'll talk more about I-35 in a little bit. You also got a win over Boone, 6-5, and a victory over West Central Valley early 3-2. Scott, it felt like those first 10 games, though. I know you want to get better as the season goes on. But boy, you played pretty darn well those first 10. Yeah, we did play pretty well early on. And I thought we competed at a very high level early on. And beating Boone was a big, big thing for us. I have a lot of respect for Charlie and the Boone baseball program, what he does over there. And any time that we get an opportunity to play Boone, we cherish that. And we were fortunate enough to come out on top this year. But that doesn't happen very often. And that kind of got a little spark in our eye when we got them. And then our conference is very tough. I mean, it's very tough. It's one of the toughest two-way conferences in the state, I think, and we compete in it very well. And playing the lights of the state champion, Pleasantville, and the Boone Christian, and Water Rangers, and the I-35s. And then up and down the line, right? Matters much improved, less central. Much improved, they're going to have a lot of returning next year. So yes, our kids compete in a very tough conference. They do a really good job. It just prepares us for district play. And we did start off the season really well. We started off pretty good. And then we just kind of hit a little bit of a speed bump in there. And then we turned it around kind of two-thirds of the way into the season. We got hot again. But that's baseball. It's up, it's down. And you're still looking for some different things. And I think what really turned us around, I think, Ryan, is that when we moved Hunter Mitchell's to catch it behind the plate, that really shifted a lot of things. Made us a little bit stronger in the outfield by moving. Thomas back there, the left field, made our outfield a little bit more stronger. And what Hunter Mitchell did behind the plate, how he commanded the game. And other teams took notice of his arm and how he did. Throwing out 16 runners behind the plate and just commanding what he did for us. I think that was a big turning point for us and made our team much better. Well, and I think something else, too, and you mentioned it with him just behind the plate. But I think it gives confidence to your infield. It gives confidence to your pitchers. And really, that was where I wanted to go next was with confidence with your pitchers. Because Coach, I mean, Colson Carson had what we thought he could do this year. You don't know it until you get out there on the field to see what happens. But we thought, you know, Colson could have a pretty special summer. Man, kid ends up 8 and 2 on the year. 2.29 ERA, 83 strikeouts to 11 walks. I know if we could redshirt him for another year, Scotty, you would do it. But what a fantastic year and summer for that senior. Yeah, well, it's Colson Carson. Yeah, just had a tremendous year. I mean, he had a really good year last year, too. And we knew coming into the season that Colson would be our number one. And he was. And our team, you know, I told the kids all season that our team is different when Colson's on the mound. And I think just our confidence level goes up, right? And I don't know why that is. But when he's on the mound, we play differently, right? And that shouldn't be the case, right? It shouldn't matter who's on the mound. But for some odd reason, when Colson was, we were just a different baseball team and get credited to Colson, how hard he worked. He was always in doing our offseason throwing program. And he just commanded the zone. And he didn't, he pitched a contact. He wasn't real flashy, but he just, he did what he needed to do on the mound. And he had confidence behind his defense, knowing that he didn't have to do it all. So Colson will be definitely missed. He left his mark on Ogden Baseball. I think he finished his career, 18 wins and seven losses on the mound. And, you know, he did a really nice job for us through four years of pitching for us. And he just got better and better each year that he was in our program. Well, somebody else who I thought had a fantastic season. And it was fun to see the, and I wondered about this. And I remember talking to Jared about this halfway through the season, and I was saying, God, you have really seen, in my opinion, a really improved defense. And what I'm talking about with defense was Keegan. And Keegan, what he was able to do this year, just a fielding percentage when you look at opportunities, because you're going to get lots of opportunities where Keegan plays. And to get that many opportunities, coach, and to have a perfect fielding percentage, to me, is just downright unbelievable. Yeah, Keegan's a place that I feel like it's meant to be played. He played, you know, he had 51 put outs this year. No errors. He just tracks down balls. He charges the ball very well. He doesn't want anything to get behind him. You know, he backs up other outfielders, whether it be left field or right field. He just commands the outfield. And his arm, too, right? A lot of teams knew that he had a pretty good arm out there and then challenged him a lot. So yeah, Keegan did a really nice job for us. Even, you know, talking about his outfield, but even at the plate, he did a really nice job for us. He was our lead off-hitter. He kind of got us going, and he was kind of the spark. And so I couldn't be more proud of what Keegan did either, right? He's got an opportunity to go on and play at Mount Mercy College and for baseball. And I think he'll do some really good things there. I think they got a good one. So I'm really happy for Keegan and what he did. Well, I always kind of joke with you, Scott, that you guys should start your senior ceremony the day before, because it's always just a long. And listen, to me, I love seeing long senior ceremonies. That means kids love to stay out for baseball. You guys could have done it again this summer. You could have started the day before. You had so many kids walking out there. As exciting and as fun as that is to talk about, it's probably a little terrifying, too, because we've got to replace all these kids for next year. But I know you guys are excited about that, Scott. Just an opportunity to see what some of these young kids can do. And who's going to be the next diamond in a rough? We're going to find out. Yeah, we're definitely going to find out. Yeah, I don't think you're going to miss these seniors, right? They were in the program for four years, and they grew through it all. But unfortunately, seniors got to move on and do other things when they're done. And we don't graduate seniors, right? We just rebuild, and that's what our program is about. And now it's time for the next ones to step up. We'll be led next year by Thomas Berkstrom and Beck Anderson. And those will be our two seniors coming back next year. And then we have some younger ones coming in there that they're going to fight for some time. And we've got a strongly eighth grade class coming up. And we've got to make the decision if we're going to bring up all of our eighth graders next year. So there's going to be plenty of opportunities. Seven probably open spots next year in our varsity lineup. It's all going to depend on the off season and how much commitment they want to make and who wants to battle for those spots. So it's our good baseball tradition that we have. And we'll fill those roles, but we got some big holes to fill with losing those eight seniors, for sure. No doubt. Scott, thank you again for such a fun summer. It's always fun to talk baseball with you and always just situations. And man, you want to talk about a coach whose brain has been running through all the hurdles during the off season. Coach, you got a bunch of ideas. I'm not going to let you give any of the ideas up, because I maybe want to take credit for them. But anyway, thanks for an awesome summer, coach. It was fun talking ball with you. Yeah, thank you very much, Ryan, for what you do for not only Boone County, but I've done a lot of baseball and following us and doing the things you do. I'm going to tell you, it's a pleasure talking with you and talking baseball and everything else that goes on in Boone County and sports. KTVU does a great job. And I want to give a big shout out to my assistant coach, our coach of Jared Ager. And he's a class act. And I love having him a part of my staff. And he does a lot of great things for our program. So again, thanks to everybody. Thanks to everybody that supports Ogden Baseball. And can't wait till February rolls around. We get back in the gym and start throwing and getting going and see what we can take next season, too. So thanks again, Ryan. I appreciate everything you do. You bet. That's Scott Church again joining us. Ogden Baseball here on Coaches Corner.