The Warrenton baseball team is entering the season with a mix of experienced players and new faces, following the graduation of five key seniors. With six returning varsity players, Coach Eric Burle is optimistic about his team’s potential.

“It’s going to be a little bit different but we have really good kids this year, coachable kids,” Burle said. “We have a lot of returning offensive players, so I’m confident that we’re going to score runs and put the ball in play.” 

On the mound will be sophomore Carter Martin, who earned all-conference honors as a freshman. 

“I understand now what I need to do to contribute to the team,” Martin said. “Last year, I wasn’t sure about that, but now I know I can do way better this year.”

“He’s going to give us a pretty good chance to win when he throws,” Burle added. 

The pitching staff will also feature Jake Kirkpatrick, Colin DiSilvester and Austin Haas, along with a couple of underclassmen. 

Despite having a team of new players, Burle has noticed that the players gel well together, with DiSilvester adding that the newcomers are adapting quickly.

“The nice thing is a couple of the freshmen that are practicing and potentially playing (varsity) played other sports with the same guys, so they’ve already got a feeling for how those guys play,” Burle said. 

Burle will look towards Haas, Colin DiSilvester, Martin, Mason Thompson, Bryce Phillips, Keegan Mellegaard and Ric Standley to fill in the void of the five graduates from last year’s team. 

“I’m confident in those guys, and really as a team, they’re going to have to all come together to fill in some of those gaps left by last year’s group,” Burle said. 

Haas, Martin, Thompson and DiSilvester will also help lead this year’s squad. 

“I’ve told them, wherever those guys go, the team’s gonna go and they’re really good kids so I think they’re going to be able to be good leaders for the group,” Burle said. 

Haas, a senior, is focused on leading the team with positivity. 

“I’d like to keep positive energy throughout the whole team and keep our emotions in check throughout the game,” Haas said. “It’s an emotional and mental game, so we have to keep our emotions in check to be competitive this year.”

The 2024 team reached a program-high of 22 wins and claimed a conference title. Burle acknowledged the tough competition in the GAC North conference, but is hoping that his team repeats its title. 

“Every year, we compete for conference, so our goal is to have a chance to make some noise again,” Burle said. “I know we’ll be successful, it’s hard to tell how successful just because we have so many new guys (and have not played in a game yet).” 

Haas added achieving the same success will not be an easy feat, but he is setting his goals high. DiSilvester and Martin added breaking the win record again would be a nice touch. 

“We can learn from last year and realize what helped us,” Martin said. “We lost a ton of guys but we got guys this year too. We have good communication coming in and better chemistry.” 

Burle noted the depth of the bench has decreased and he is looking anywhere from 14 to 17 players to dress in varsity games. 

He lauded the team’s athleticism, noting many players are three-sport athletes. Offensively, he is expecting the Warriors to be ahead. On the defensive and pitching side, Burle is hoping those areas will come around as they progress. 

Warrenton will begin its season at 5 p.m. on March 21 versus Central (Park Hills) located in O’Fallon.