Bryce Hirayama
Student Sports Media
With spring right around the corner, another baseball season begins at Butler. Last year, the Grizzlies won the KJCCC West with a record of 39-19, which was their first title since 2010.The conference championship was the first for Head Coach BJ McVay, who is entering his 10th season at the helm of the baseball program and 16th overall season with the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies opened the season up in Enid, Oklahoma, against Northwestern Oklahoma State JV and won both games.In the first game, the Grizzlies won by a score of 5-4. Butler had a total of five hits and four RBIs. Sophomore infielder Dylan Werries led the team in stolen bases with three, while freshman right handed pitcher Nate Adler came away with the win in which he finished with four strikeouts and two hits in his two inning outing.
In the second game, the Grizzlies demolished Northwestern Oklahoma State by a score of 9-2. Four different Grizzlies had two hits a piece. Sophomore Catcher Colby Standard led the team in RBIs with four, and freshman outfielder Jackson Syring led the team in runs scored with four, and also came away with two steals on the basepaths. The winning pitcher for the Grizzlies was redshirt freshman left handed pitcher Cade Phelps, who had three strikeouts and one hit in two innings of work.
On Saturday, Feb 8, the Grizzlies opened up at home against the Coffeyville Red Ravens and won both games. In the first game, the Grizzlies won 2-1 off two RBIs from redshirt freshman outfielder RJ Lara. One of his RBIs came in the 7th and his second came in the bottom of the 9th to win the game.
“I spent all last year recovering from an injury and had a chance to sit back and watch a really good baseball team have a lot of special moments at this field,” Lara said. “So to actually be apart of one of those moments feels incredible, especially it being our home opener.”
The winning pitcher for the Grizzlies was redshirt freshman Cade Phelps in two innings of work with two strikeouts.
In the second game, the Grizzlies won 4-0 in seven innings. Two of the four runs for Butler were scored off wild pitches and the other two came from RBIs from sophomore catcher Colby Standard and sophomore infielder Dylan Werries. The winning pitcher for the Grizzlies, freshman Nate Adler, pitched four scoreless innings with four strikeouts and only one hit.
“The chemistry the team had last year was something indescribable,” Lara said. “That being said, and having a lot of returners, we all work together really well. It took almost no time at all for that chemistry to form like it did last year. I think the reason this team has had success so far is that we just refuse to lose and have each other’s back. If someone’s struggling one day, another guy will help pick him up and so on. With that being said, we also all understand that we each have a job to do when we get up to the plate and then it’s just a matter of passing the torch to the next guy.”
Butler split their double header on Saturday, Feb. 15 against the Redlands in El Reno, Oklahoma with a 7-2 win and a 3-2 loss, the first loss of the season for the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies will host a four-game Series against Des Moines Area Community College this upcoming Saturday and Sunday, with a 1:00 p.m. start time on both days.
