The Kenston Bombers baseball team opened the season 0-5 as of April 5, before opening up Western Reserve Conference play on April 7 as they host Willoughby South.
The Kenston Bombers baseball team opened the season 0-5 as of April 5, before opening up Western Reserve Conference play on April 7 as they host Willoughby South.
Slow starts to the year are not new territory for this Bombers group, as they opened last year 2-5 before ending the year at 15-16-1 following a Div. II Regional Championship loss to the eventual state champs, Beloit West Branch, 2-1.
Working through early struggles can be challenging, but it allows Kenston to learn and grow as a group that welcomes some new faces to the varsity squad.
“I don’t love (the slow start), and that’s a tendency I need to work out amongst players,” said Kenston head coach Joe Hritz following an 8-2 loss against Gilmour on April 2. “This year has been no easy case, but at the same time, we’re figuring out what we’ve got. I don’t think we’re down and out yet, and we’ve got a lot of things to work out as a team. We’ll figure out what’s going on and be back, I’m not worried.”
The Bombers have had to work through the woes against some of the best competition in Northeast Ohio, and even facing tougher tests for a Spring Break trip down in Cincinnati.
As most say, it’s important to take the lumps now in April as opposed to late May when the postseason is ramping up.
“Hopefully (the schedule) prepares for the postseason, and that’s always the goal,” Hritz said. “With the division we’re in this year, it’s going to start getting tight here real quick. We gotta kick it into gear. We have to look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, are we going to grind, fight, take care of business?’. This is the time to turn it around, work on stuff, and find out what we have. These guys are starting to fall into their roles.”
Kenston graduated 12 seniors last year and now returns nine letter winners from last season.
Of those nine coming back, two of which can be vital to the success of this team, once it gets rolling, coming off of a state championship win in 2023, and regional runner-up finish in 2024.
Lucas Kaltenbach and Graysen Bischof.
Kaltenbach, a senior and ace of the staff, leads a young group on the mound as he makes his third straight appearance as a member of the varsity roster.
“What I’m liking is that all the pitchers are challenging the hitters,” Kaltenbach said. “Nobody’s pitching away from anybody. I always tell them, ‘I don’t care if it’s the number one draft pick, we got to go at him. We’re not just going to pitch around him. Even if he’s number one, he’s still going to get out five out of ten times.’ We’re attacking, we’re battling back in counts which is what I like to see. I’m seeing improvement, even though it’s early. We just have to get things to click, and once it does, we’re going to turn it around.”
Entering his senior year, he’s posted career numbers of a 5.17 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 43.⅓ innings pitched.
Kaltenbach feels the light at the end of the tunnel is growing closer, but there are also cleanups needing to be done to get there.
“We need to be more aggressive as a team,” Kaltenbach said. “I feel like we’re watching too many pitches, and that’s something I’m trying to fix early. I want to swing (the bat) more. We’re so young, it’s going to take time. I see the improvement and the hard work, and I see that we care. I feel fully confident that it’s going to happen. I don’t know when, but I feel like it’ll happen somewhat soon.”
Bischof, a junior, enters with a career batting average of .262 in his first three seasons on varsity. He’s added in 12 RBI with five doubles and three triples to this point.
Last season he appeared in all 27 games for Kenston, and he knows how much taking these early lumps can get this team ready and battle-tested for the playoffs.
“All of these kids are fighting for spots right now,” Bischof said. “All of these kids are ready to play and want to get their chance to show their talent. Starting the year like this is not unknown to us, but our record does not define us. The past two years, we’ve had losing records early, but I know we can build off of it. It shows us a lot of our little niches of things that we need to get and get better.”
Bischof may only be a junior, but he’s been a part of two special seasons early in his career, and his voice can help guide the Bombers back on track.
“Some of these kids are just getting used to this, so us returning starters are just trying to set some guidelines,” he said. “All these guys just want to play, and we’re trying to show them that we’re going to have ups and downs, but we have to learn how to come back from those. We’ve got a good core, and I think we can work around it and make ourselves known.”
Despite all that, the message is simple for Kenston.
“It’s time to come together,” Hritz said. “This team’s been dealing with a lot, and it’s time to loosen up a little bit. I hope these guys will do it and come together.”
