Seniors will be key to Colfax baseball season

COLFAX  —  Colfax Vikings baseball coach Kirk Secraw says the five hard-working seniors are the one of the team’s strengths for the 2016 season.

Secraw is in his first year as the Vikings baseball coach and took over the position from Tim Wilson.

A 2003 graduate of Colfax High School, Secraw lettered in baseball all four years, played third base and pitched.

Tim Wilson was Secraw’s baseball coach.

In addition to the five seniors (Ben Christianson, Tyler Dawson, Zach Meyer, Jarrod Rudi and Joe Verdon), the 2016 Vikings baseball team has five sophomores (Mitch Kiekhafer, Nate Polden, Taylor Sarauer, Brett Schindler and Alex Sykora) and six freshmen (Jackson Hellman; Devin Lamm, Alex Rossie, George Scharlau, Josh Smith and Ben Thompson).

With a record of 9-11, which compares to a record of 8-10 for 2014, letter winners for the 2015 baseball team were Jarrod Rudi, Zach Meyer and Mitch Kiekhafer.

Jarrod Rudi also was First Team All Conference.

Team members who graduated last year were Sawyer DeMoe, Nate Liebfried, Logan Mittelstadt, Jeremiah Wait, Trevor Olson and Brett Johnson.

“We lost a lot of experienced players and leadership. Hopefully new guys will step up to the challenge,” Secraw said.

The three letter winners from 2015, Rudi, Meyer and Kiekhafer, are returning to the team this year.

Jarrod Rudi “will be counted on to do a little bit of everything for us this year. He should have very good year for us. He will be doing pitching and playing shortstop,” Secraw said.

Zach Meyer “will become one of our leaders, especially with our outfielders,” he said.

Mitch Kiekhafer “is becoming more of a leader of the younger guys, even though he is only a sophomore. He will be catching,” Secraw said.

Returning sophomore Nate Polden “will be responsible for a lot of the pitching and playing second,” he said.

Senior Ben Christianson and sophomore Taylor Sarauer “will be taking over at first base,” Secraw noted.

Sophomore Brett Schindler will be “doing some pitching and playing third base,” he said.

Secraw said that newcomers to the team who seem to have potential include George Scharlau (freshman), Devin Lamm (freshman) and Tyler Dawson (senior).

The goals for the 2016 Vikings baseball team is to hit .300 as a team and to be competitive in every game. Another goal is to “get the young guys some playing experience,” Secraw said.

Elk Mound will be the top competitor for the Vikings “because they are returning everybody,” he said.

The Vikings baseball team for 2016 includes:

Freshmen: Jackson Hellman; Devin Lamm — outfield and pitching; Alex Rossie — infield and outfield; George Scharlau — infield and pitching; Josh Smith — outfield and third base; Ben Thompson — outfield and shortstop.

Sophomores: Mitch Kiekhafer — catcher and infield; Nate Polden — infield and pitching; Taylor Sarauer — first base and outfield; Brett Schindler — pitching and infield; Alex Sykora — catcher and infield.

Seniors: Ben Christianson — first base and designated hitter; Tyler Dawson — outfield and catcher; Zach Meyer — outfield and first base (.283 batting average); Jarrod Rudi — shortstop and pitcher (.469 batting average); Joe Verdon — outfield.