Coming off a 2021 season when the Bluffton University baseball team struck lightning in a bottle, the Beavers have set their sights even higher for 2022. Bluffton had its deepest HCAC tourney run in school history, going 4-2 over the last two weekends en route to a final mark of 20-24. Included in that post-season run was a sweep of #3 seed Rose-Hulman who had won 20 straight games against the Beavers. Bluffton also knocked Anderson out of the tournament with two wins over the Ravens before falling to Earlham College (6-4) in the semi-final game.
Bluffton will have holes to fill following the graduation of graduate students Adam Duncan and Parker Reynolds along with 2021 seniors Jacob Latkofsky, Reid Ruhl, Lenny Winiarski, Jaxon Rogan and Tommy Siemer. However, when one door closes another one opens and another well-stocked group of upperclassmen are ready to assume the mantle.
Garrett O'Reilly (Galena/Orange) is back for his fifth year. The big right hander went to work for the Lima Locos last summer and played a crucial part in their late-season run that saw Lima advance to the GLSCL championship game. O'Reilly tossed a team-high 67 innings last season with 52 strikeouts against just 16 walks.
Another 2022 senior who saw time with the Locos last summer is Seth Evans (Ada/OSU-Lima). Bluffton's standout closer in 2021, Evans fashioned a miniscule 2.66 ERA with 18 strikeouts and five saves in 20.1 innings on the bump. Spencer Garrison (West Salem/Northwestern) was 3-1 with a 4.15 ERA out of the bullpen while fellow senior Jacob Daulton (Batavia) fanned 16 in 16.1 innings of work.
Looking to return to the form he displayed as a freshman in 2019 is Carson Curnutte (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) who missed 2021 with an injury after the 2020 season was cut short due to COVID-19. Curnutte started eight games as a freshman, finishing with a 4.81 ERA and 34 punchouts. Eddie Budinski (Louisville) fired 36 strikeouts in just 21.1 innings of work as a junior, including 10 in a five-inning relief appearance against Anderson at Memorial Field.
Junior hurlers Jacob Boelkens (Millbury/Lake) and Jaden Jaques (New Palestine, Ind.) both held opponents under .300 in 2021 with Boelkens going 4-3 in 57.1 innings. He struck out 52 and walked just 22 while Jacques set down 28 batters in 23 innings.
Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) started 43 games for the Beavers in 2021, hitting .314 with 30 runs scored while scooping everything up at shortstop. Seniors Jeff Strayer (Columbus/Thomas Worthington) and Brandon Wilson (Casstown/Miami East) both have extensive experience in the infield and Wilson came on at the end of the 2021 season, hitting .326 with a .442 on-base percentage last season. Senior Luke Hanson (Somerset/Sheridan) hit .250 last year and gives the Beavers experience at first base in 2022.
With longtime backstop Parker Reynolds gone, juniors Adam Yoh (Milford) and Nathaniel DeWeese (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) will have the opportunity to earn playing time behind the plate. DeWeese hit .300 in 13 games as a sophomore. Another veteran who will see time at second base and behind the dish is versatile junior Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start). Baumgartner hit .288 with 18 walks and can play multiple positions defensively.
Sophomore Kenny Schneider (Sunbury/Big Walnut), junior Nick Diana (Batavia/West Clermont) and senior Cale Sherbourne (Johnstown/Big Walnut) give the Beavers starting experience in the outfield. Schneider hit .290 with 38 runs scored, second to just Reid Ruhl, and Diana had only one error in 2021.
Sophomore Seth Altman (Hilliard/Hilliard Davidson) was a road warrior for the Beavers as a freshman, tossing all 34 of his innings away from Memorial Field. Altman had a 5.56 ERA and started seven games for Bluffton with 28 strikeouts in his inaugural season.
Bluffton will tee it up at Wilmington on Tuesday, March 1, before an eight-game stint in Florida. The home opener is slated for Saturday, March 19, when Ohio Wesleyan heads north for a doubleheader. A trip to Franklin kicks off the Heartland Conference portion of the schedule on Saturday, April 2. Defiance makes the short trip to Memorial Field on Tuesday, April 26, before the regular season comes to a close when the Beavers host Mount St. Joseph for Senior Day on Friday, May 6.
-BEAVERS-