Baseball wraps up non-conference schedule at 7-2

Bradie Gray

Contributing

Writer

With one game remaining before conference play begins, the Broncho baseball team is off to a blistering 7-2 pace to start the season while dominating offensively.

Despite losing their last game to Oklahoma Baptist in a 5-4 bout on Wednesday, Central baseball has played phenomenally overall to start the season. Last year, the team’s non-conference record finished at 9-8, but this year in nine non-conference games they have already racked up seven wins, all led by their impeccable offense.

Of the 13 players that have taken an at-bat, nine of them are hitting over .300 and four of them are hitting over .400 so far. The season is still young, but this is a vast improvement from the team last year, which had a cumulative batting average of .288 and zero batters with a plus-.350 batting average. In their nine games so far, the ‘Chos have been scoring to the tune of 8.8 runs per game and have scored 10 or more runs in four of them.

The offense has been led by junior infielder Seth Gray. In his second season in Edmond, Gray is off to a blistering start, hitting .364 with nine extra-base hits, including three home runs and an astounding 17 RBIs. Sophomore infielder Orlando Gonzales has hit three homers and outfielder Noah Olsen hit two homers. Another facet of their offense has been their hyper-aggressive base running. The Bronchos have galloped for 46 stolen bases already this year, led by Aid- en Proctor with 13.

Defensively, the Bronchos have been more than solid as well. Pitchers so far have a combined 3.8 ERA, led by Jeb Jenkins with a 0.9 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 10 innings pitched. Marcos Lopez and Chris Spry have each racked up a dozen strikeouts as well.

According to Bronchos’ catcher Wyatt Gray, this team has the chemistry and the talent to go the distance this season.

“The team chemistry has been great so far between all of us,” Gray said. “We all trust each other and I don’t think there’s anything holding us back from what we’re really capable of doing. A conference championship is a really good goal we have. We want to do that and find our way into a regional tournament. Find ways to continue to beat people, and go as far as the World Series. That’s the ultimate goal for everybody,