Baseball Season Starting Soon, Here’s An Early Look At Returning Players

Last year Anderson’s baseball team did very well, winning most of their games (25-7-1 record) and even winning district. So, with baseball tryouts starting this Friday, January 20, and the first varsity game on February 21 against Pflugerville, some people might be wondering who they can expect to see out on the diamond. There are eight starters returning from last year who are expected to play a good amount, six being seniors and the other two sophomores. Of the eight, four are pitchers, meaning the bullpen should be very good. The eight players are (in alphabetical order):

Gus Begert – sophomore, outfield. Begert played in 31 games and hit .391 last season. He had 27 hits and 11 RBI, while drawing 8 walks and scoring 18 times.

Max Birdsong – senior, pitcher. Last year, Birdsong pitched 17.1 innings over 10 games allowing 14 hits, 21 walks, and 13 runs. Opponents hit .219 against him and struck out 20 times.

Connor Clifton – senior, pitcher. In 2022, Clifton pitched 40.2 innings over 12 games allowing 36 hits, walking 13 batters and giving up only 21 runs. Opponents hit .221 against him and struck out 40 times.

Karsten Fidler – senior, middle infield. Last season, Fidler played in 32 games and hit .347. He had 33 hits and 22 RBI, along with 11 walks. He scored 29 times.

Jake Melvin – senior, starting pitcher, committed to Dallas Baptist University. Last season, Melvin pitched 17 innings over 5 games. He gave up 13 hits, 12 walks and 12 runs. Opponents only batted .191 against him.

Ed Small – sophomore, outfield, committed to the University of Texas at Austin. Last year, Small played in 32 games and had a batting average of .463. He had 38 hits and 23 RBI. He was walked 29 times and scored 44 runs.

Sheppard Tyler – senior, pitcher. In 2022, Tyler pitched 20.2 innings over 9 games. He only allowed 15 hits, and walked 19 batters. He gave up 15 runs.

Rylan Unnasch – senior, shortstop (was designated hitter last season), committed to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Unnasch played in all 33 games last year. He hit .417 with 35 hits, and 31 RBI. He drew 25 walks and scored 26 times.

Overall, last year the team had a great batting average, .404, and got on base over half the time they went to the plate (.526 OBS). They scored 329 runs on 268 RBI, 345 hits, and nearly 200 walks. Once on base, they were successful in stealing bases 94% of the time they tried. Pitching last year only allowed 121 runs (75 earned runs). They gave up 157 hits and 121 walks. Their opponents only hit .209 against them and struck out 259 times.

With all of this returning talent, all of the new talent that makes the team, and a lot of hard work by every player, Anderson baseball fans great things from the team this season.