As the Wildcats varsity baseball season approaches, many freshman and sophomore players are looking to make the team as underclassmen.

Varsity assistant coach Joshua Hayes pointed out the main reasons an underclassman can make the varsity team. “Baseball is a competitive sport, so the biggest and most obvious factor is that they’re better. When it gets to the varsity level of sports, I believe, and as a team we believe, we need to put the best players out on the field,” he said.

Hayes also thinks fitting-in is a factor. “It also depends on being a fit, because baseball is a team sport, so does that player’s approach and skill set fit our team? That’s a question that we ask ourselves a lot. They also need to be able to handle the maturity level of being on a varsity team. If they check off all of those boxes, they have a shot.”

Sophomore C/1B/3B Dylan Gamber believes he has a shot to start as a catcher for the team. “The varsity team always carries two catchers and at the moment, there is only one upperclassman catcher. If I work hard and show what I got, it’s a real possibility that I will be playing varsity this year,” he said.

In the past, many underclassmen have taken roles on the varsity team, from Indians prospect Mitch Longo to Wittenberg University catcher Jack Hollinshead. Hayes, however, said that there hasn’t been a lot of underclassmen in recent years.

“In recent years, we’ve had underclassmen, not a ton, but we had some juniors and sophomores on the team. We’ve never had a true freshman play and start on the varsity level in a long time,” Hayes said.

When an underclassmen is good enough to make the varsity team, Hayes has been impressed. “When we’ve given them the chance to perform, it’s genuinely paid off. They’ve held their own, and have not been a liability on the team,” he said.

During the offseason workouts, Hayes says there are lots of ways underclassmen can stand out from the rest of the crowd.

“You need to display talent, and you need to show that you are a good teammate. It’s not like golf where it’s all individual, we need to have good bonds between all 9 on the field and the bench,” said Hayes.

Sophomore 3B/DH Matt Snider believes that he has the abilities to make himself stand out. “I think that my personality definitely plays a factor. I like to be different than everyone else. The way I play can also help me stand out,” he said.

As pitchers are more scarce than ever, Hayes tends to pull towards underclassmen for pitching spots. “Pitchers are the position we tend to fill in the most. If you throw strikes with multiple pitches, you have a very high chance of being on the varsity team,” he said.

Sophomore Hayden Nahra, a 6’5” pitcher, thinks he will be joining the varsity team in February. “I will be trying to pitch on the varsity team, as I got my fastball up to 85 mph. Since I am very tall and lanky, that’s what the coaches look for in pitchers,” he said.

Overall, Hayes believes the past underclassmen have made impacts on the varsity team. “I’d say very positively, because we don’t pull underclassmen up just for the sake of playing. We already know that you have talent, we already know that you will be a good teammate, we know that you won’t be a cancer on the bench. When we know you’ve checked off those boxes, it usually leads to great things,” he said.