Talawanda High School baseball produced another winning season in 2023 despite falling short of a second-consecutive Southwest Ohio Conference (SWOC) title. The team finished with a 16-12 overall record (10-5 SWOC) and 1-1 in postseason tournament play.
Replacing A Large Senior Class
Moving into a new season, head coach Matt Lykins acknowledges that his staff has a lot of spots on the roster to fill before the first pitch of the 2024 campaign.
Nine players from last season’s 21-person roster graduated, including six of the Brave’s top 10 batting average and run producers.
Lykins, along with assistant coaches Noah Zipko and Trevor Detherage, are left to replace a significant amount of the team’s production.
“Losing Noah Prewitt,” Lykins said. “That was big, obviously. He was a three-year varsity starter and all-conference all three years. First team as a junior and senior, and conference player of the year as a junior. Those are big shoes to fill.”
But Lykins said he isn’t worried about the loss of the 2023 senior class. He believes in the returning players’ ability to take on more significant roles.
Juniors Nathaniel Iden and Eddie Tanner both received all-conference honors last season. Iden tied for the second-most wins (4) amongst conference pitchers. Tanner led the squad in batting average (.409) and at-bats (88).
“I think we have people who’ve learned from watching [the seniors] and have their own thing, and I see some success with them doing it too,” Lykins said.
The Brave has only three seniors on the team, the fewest since Lykins took over in 2019. But catcher AJ Hainline, pitcher Derek Hacker and infielder Tyler Robinson recognize the importance of setting the example on and off the field.
“We have the younger guys looking up to us, so we gotta step up and stay focused,” Hainline said.
The seniors hope to develop the program and grow as a team.
“The goal is to get to wanna get better at least 1% better at least every day,” Robinson said. “So, if you continue to do that, you are gonna be better, and that’s something to look forward to.”
New Look SWOC
The SWOC has shrunk to four teams (Talawanda, Harrison, Northwest, and Mt. Healthy) after Ross and Edgewood joined the Southwest Buckeye League. The former geographic rivals will remain on the Brave’s schedule, but matchups will not determine conference record. Lykins believes that the 18 non-conference games are opportunities to see unfamiliar opponents.
“We’re seeing Turpin [and] we’re seeing West Clermont,” Lykins said. “We’re seeing a lot of teams that have had some real success in the past and see what we can do against some people who aren’t just in the immediate area, which is kinda fun.”
But no matter the change in schedule or roster, the Brave looks to build from their previous season’s strengths. In 2023, the team led the conference in batting average, hits, runs, and RBIs.
“I think we run the bases aggressively, I think we pitched pretty well last year, and I think our defense is always pretty good,” Lykins said. “So, those are always things we can build on.”
Tryouts began on February 19. Once the roster is finalized, the Brave will start practicing for its first regular season game on March 19 at Edgewood High School.
