The 2025 baseball season had its share of twists and turns for Warrenton.
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The 2025 baseball season had its share of twists and turns for Warrenton.
A 13-15 finish and first-round loss in the district playoffs don’t exactly paint the entire picture, junior infielder/pitcher Ric Standley said.
After all, the Warriors had to deal with the early-season loss of pitcher/shortstop Carter Martin, amongst other injuries, and still managed to string together win streaks of four and five games.
“I think that the season went very well overall,” Standley said. “There were a lot of ups and downs, but it was to be expected after losing some major seniors (to graduation after the team finished 21-7 a year ago). I have high hopes for next year with the improving freshman, now with more experience.”
While there were plenty of youngsters who stepped up this season, Standley could easily be counted upon as a team leader this spring.
He finished in the top 10 in the area in hitting at .511 to go along with 11 doubles, three triples, a home run and 17 RBI.
“I think this season went very well for me individually,” Standley said. “It was the improvement from last year that I was hoping for, and I feel I did my best to try to (create) runs. There are still some things that I can improve on, and I am hoping to do this in the off-season to get ready for next season.”
Along with Standley, who also earned a win and recorded four saves on the mound, junior Jake Kirkpatrick came up big for Warrenton.
He hit .400 with a home run and 26 RBI and also led the pitching staff with five wins while owning a 2.79 earned run average.
Warriors’ Coach Eric Burle said he was happy to count the two juniors amongst his leadership group.
“I can circle back to both Ric and Jake being that consistent upperclassmen presence,” Burle said. “They are very present in the off-season, and they went about their business during practice and games all season. (Sophomore utility player) Tate Aulgur was also new to our team and a consummate team player, always leading by example and willing to do anything for our group.”
As far as team highlights, Burle said he felt back-to-back wins over Holt on April 14-15 were key to the team’s confidence this season in terms of results.
“I do think winning the games against Holt was big for us because we lost our first two conference games to St. Charles West in games we felt we could have won and most definitely could have played better,” Burle said. “Then, to follow, Carter went down, so I think winning those games was important for this group to realize they could play through some adversity and find ways to win.”
Burle said that having a taste of varsity action and success should leave the more-seasoned Warriors hungry for more in 2027.
“I feel that, as coaches, we got the most out of this group, and hopefully, this season will fuel their fire to compete for a conference title next season and advance in postseason play,” he said.
