2024 Ashland County Baseball Preview Part 1: Loudonville and New London
In Part 1 of Ashland County's 2024 baseball preview, we preview Loudonville and New London.
Loudonville
2023 Record: 13-13
Mid-Buckeye Conference finish: 7-1, 1st place
Team Expectations
Loudonville enters 2024 after a 2023 season where they were co-MBC champions with Lucas. Fourth-year head coach Matt Rucki expects the team to make even more strides this season. "We expect to show improvement on last year's 13-13 record," said Rucki. "We have nine seniors and a lot of players with varsity experience returning."
More: Loudonville makes timely plays in baseball win over Mapleton
Team Outlook
"Our strengths should be pitching and defense," Rucki said. "Putting together good at-bats consistently and limiting our strikeouts will probably determine our overall success. We have a challenging schedule and will need strong senior leadership to get us through the ups and downs of the season."
Key Returning Players
Of the nine returning players for Loudonville, all are letterwinners in Caden Donaldson, Kiefer Rhodes, Baylor Weiser, Matt Sprang, Easton Edwards, Hunter Polen, Judah Layton and Dilan Wade. Some key players to look out for are Matt Sprang, who Rucki calls the "expected ace of our pitching staff and middle of the lineup bat who we need to drive in runs."
Last year, Sprang was an All-MBC performer who hit .359 with 19 RBIs, and pitched 53 total innings with a 2.70 ERA. Joining Sprang in the pitching rotation will be Wade, Donaldson and Polen. "All will be relied on to throw a lot of innings," Rucki said.
Another key performer for the Redbirds will be junior third baseman and pitcher Judah Layton, who was an All-MBC first team selection last year. Layton led the team with a .400 batting average, 30 hits and drew 13 walks.
"He led us in hitting in multiple categories last year and will be counted on to hit for high average in middle of the lineup," Rucki said.
Centerfielder and pitcher Baylor Weiser will also be a looked to "play solid defense and get on base at the top of the lineup."
"We expect to be in contention for a league championship and our focus has been improving each day," Rucki said.
New London
2023 Record: 5-16
Firelands Conference Record: 2-12, 7th place
Team Expectations
New London enters 2024 hoping to make turn things around from last season.
"We plan on competing and getting better each day we are on the field. We will focus on fundamental baseball," said New London head coach Brandon Risner. "New London has been known as a baseball school but has struggled a bit in the past. I plan on building on what Coach Gentry was doing at New London and keep getting us back to the top of the conference. We want to compete for a conference title and be playing our best baseball at tournament time."
Team Outlook
"We have a great group of kids that have been working really hard this year," Risner said. "We have 22 kids in the program now which allows us to have both Varsity and JV. We have been focusing on pitching and defense as well as offense. We have been working hard in the cage and on the field or in the gym due to weather. Expecting an exciting season."
Key Returning Players
Risner expects seniors Gage Carroll, Jacob Myers, Tyce Davidson, David Speicher, along with juniors Weston Risner, Aiden Ruggles, Joe Gum and sophomore Oliver Harrison to be his top performers this season and will lean on them for plenty of production.
Expected Lineup and Rotation
New London's pitching rotation is expected to be Carroll as the No. 1 starter, Ruggles as the No. 2 and Harrison as the No. 3 guy, with Risner saying there will be five others in the mix to throw innings.
The Wildcats infield will be Risner and Carroll at first base, Davidson and Jarrett Mencl at second base and Ruggles at shortstop. At third will be Harrison and Speicher, while Jacob Myers and Gabe Ellis will be the catchers. The outfielders will be Mencl, Gum, Ellis, Garrett Hess and Matthew Miller.
jsimpson@gannett.com
Twitter:@JamesSimpsonII
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland County Baseball Preview: New London and Loudonville
