Lineup Balance, Pitching Key for 2024 Viking Baseball
Despite the cold, snowy winters that is experienced by Moses Lake on a yearly basis, Big Bend Community College's baseball team is primed and prepared to hit the field this weekend, boasting a wealth of experience, a ton of new faces, and one common goal across the squad…competing for a Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) championship.
"This upcoming season will be an intriguing one," stated third-year head coach Chase Tunstall. "2024 brings some familiar faces but also features a large class of freshmen that are poised to make an immediate impact and improve on last year's 22-27 record, with aspirations to achieve at new levels."
The 2023 season came to an abrupt close for the Vikes. Despite ending the regular season as one of the hottest team in the entire NWAC, winning nine of their last 12 conference games and clinching a four-seed in the Eastern Region, the Vikes saw their season come to a close in the second round of the NWAC Regionals.
"We were able to blank Umpqua Community College (9-0) in the first round of regionals, but could not best the eventual NWAC Tournament Runner-Up, Tacoma Community College, in a three-game series," lamented Tunstall.
NCAA Division One University of Northern Colorado gained two 2023 Vikings, as sophomores Hunter Gibson and Dalton Miller chose to continue their academic and athletic careers for the Bears. Additionally, Tyler Balkenbush and Zakaia Michaels found their four-year homes at NAIA Eastern Oregon University, while Jett Nelson (University of Jamestown-NAIA), Tim Williams (Oregon Institute of Technology-NAIA), and Austin McQuilliams (George Fox University-NCAA D3) continued the tradition of a long line of former Vikings excelling at the four-year level.
For 2024, the Vikes will turn to the leadership of 16 returning sophomores, highlighted by Alberta, Canada native Kyle Belich. In 2023, Belich started 31 games behind the dish for the Vikings. Another returner, hailing from Arizona, who is shaping up to be the ace of the pitching staff is 6'6 right-handed pitcher Hayden Schooler. Schooler started 12 games on the mound for the Vikes in 2023, finishing the season 4-3 with 78 strike outs in 62 1/3 innings, while boasting a 3.75 ERA. Additionally, Schooler's 11.26 strikeouts per nine innings of play led the entire NWAC amongst qualified pitchers. Finally, finding his way once again into the clean-up spot, sophomore Heath Hachkowski continues a long line of successful Canadians to play for the Vikes.
As a team, the Vikes will feature significant depth on the pitching staff this season, with an abundance of quality arms poised to see meaningful innings. Additionally, the 2024 Vikes expect to roll out a more balanced 1-9 lineup this year.
"The cohesiveness and commitment to one another is an important strength you will see out of this year's team," added Tunstall.
However, playing a complete game may be the largest area of improvement needed for the Vikes this season, as Tunstall hopes to "flip the script of slow starts in the last couple of years and get off to a hot start out of the gate this year." That hot start will be much-needed, as Big Bend's competition in the always-rugged NWAC Eastern Region will be, in Tunstall's words, a "dogfight every day at the yard throughout the season." Spokane Community College has won the Eastern Region for consecutive years and is poised to repeat … that is, unless the Vikes have something to say about that.
The 2024 Big Bend Vikes baseball squad opens the season on Friday, February 23rd, as they take on NWAC South Region foe Umpqua Community College in a four-game series over the course of two days. As always, keep up with the Vikings on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as through the NWACSports Network's livestream video platform, where available.