Beloit Memorial baseball team prepares for Southern Lakes Conference

BELOIT — Steven Johnson admits he had rather grandiose plans for a Beloit Memorial baseball revival last spring in his first year as head coach.

It didn’t take him long to realize rebuilding the Purple Knights would be more of a process than an overnight sensation.

Beloit was 2-20 and shut out nine times in 2022. Last season only brought one more win for the 9-19 Knights, although Johnson said he saw more of a spark and hopes it becomes a flame before too long.

This will be his team’s first year maneuvering in the Southern Lakes Conference, which a year ago was top-heavy with Waterford, Union Grove and Burlington all posting double-digits in league wins while the remaining five teams were all under .500 in league play.

“The elite of the conference is Union Grove,” Johnson said. “They only graduated three guys. Waterford graduated two really good players, but they’ll come back strong again along with Burlington. Hopefully, we will fit in the mix in the top half of the league, bringing back the people we have.”

The Knights lost only two seniors (Decarlos Nora, Jordan Toubl) to graduation, but they did also lose one of their top returnees when left fielder Amare Hereford elected to focus on basketball this spring. Hereford received All-Big Eight Honorable Mention in 2023 after a strong first season on the varsity as a freshman when he hit .250 (14-56), leading the team in runs scored (11), triples (2), on-base percentage (.368), OPS (.707) and slugging percentage (.339). He also did not have an error in 101 chances.

“I was hopeful,” Johnson said. “We rode together in a truck during the homecoming parade and we had a conversation about baseball. I told him I’d keep sending him invitations, but he knows his future is basketball and he wants to concentrate on that.”

The Knights return starting center fielder Owen West, who was the team’s MVP last season as a sophomore. In right, Kaleef Hobson-Thomas and Brennin Pearson shared the position a year ago. Pearson is back, but Hobson-Thomas chose not to come out. Johnson said Tayvon Cates will play left.

Pearson will probably bat at the top of the lineup, replacing the speedy Hereford.

“Brennin is a long and lean kid who’s a lefty,” Johnson said. “You can tell that he and Owen West have played a lot of ball together growing up.”

Johnson’s other top returnees are catcher Dustin Foss — who batted .400 with runners in scoring position — shortstop Brooks Mitchell, first baseman Mitch Stuessy and third baseman Ruddy Ramirez.

Mike Nora looks to be the top newcomer to the lineup. A disciple of the Bennie Elite baseball program, he is a polished prospect.

“Mike Nora is going to be our beast,” Johnson said. “He’s an extraordinary player. He pounds the ball and he can play any position. He will be one of our starting pitchers and he doesn’t just throw two or three. He has a whole library. We’ll also use him at third base and when Dustin Foss is pitching he will be catching.”

Ruddy Ramirez will also see action at third base and Brooks Mitchell returns at shortstop.

“Brooks is really a smooth fielder,” Johnson said. “We shouldn’t have any problems there.”

The second baseman will be new with Decarlos Nora having graduated. Johnson said sophomore Wilmy Henriquez has the inside track to play there with Ramirez also a possibility. First base belongs to returning Stuessy, who also pitches. Actually, many of the Knights can see mound duty.

Johnson said he has 13 players on the varsity and another 16 on jayvees. Fortunately, he doesn’t expect to see the sort of eligibility issues the team had in the past when the Knights had to cancel part of the jayvee season because too many were moved up to take the place of ineligible players.

“Last year we changed things up and we promoted academics more and as a result we won a national academic award,” the coach said. “We were the only Big Eight team to earn it and no SLC teams earned it. I’d like to see us do that again.”

He said there will still be some movement of players, particularly because he decided to keep both Max and Marcus Allen. Two-sport athletes this spring, their primary sport will be golf. When they’re not at a meet, they will be playing baseball, but the links get preference.

“When we have them, I plan on using them,” said Johnson, who showed some flexibility last season when Hereford missed some games to attend AAU basketball tournaments.

All in all, he expects his team to win more games this year.

“I’d say our biggest improvement this year is going to be Mike Nora,” Johnson said. “It’s obvious he’s been in the weight room. He’s a strong kid and he’s been coached very well. We’re expecting a lot of good things out of him.”

The Knights will open April 4 when they play at Hononegah.