(Oakland, IA) – The Riverside Bulldogs are knocking the rust off here in the early portion of the season. With multiple Riverside players getting out of the soccer and track and field seasons, these players are getting thrown right into the mix. Riverside’s first game against West Monona was unfortunately interrupted by the weather on Monday as the Bulldogs now jump into a few tough games against conference opponents. Head Coach Cole Chapin is looking for his players to knock off the rust and get back to playing their game of baseball.
Every game is determined pitch-by-pitch. The seniors have brought the mentality of Coach Chapin to the underclassmen on the team to give the team one goal. Trying to win every inning is important and focusing on the team is the main aspect for these players rather than focusing on their individual statistics.
Riverside features quite a few top returners to the diamond this season. They feature an All-State player in Grady Jeppesen who hit .581 at the plate and had an OBP of .675 with a team-leading 36 hits at the plate. Kaeden Please has been a consistent player alongside Grady who was a key fielder in field percentage at .903. Cole Jeppesen is a returning All-Conference player from last season and hit .426 at the plate with a total of 19 stolen bases. Coach Chapin says that it doesn’t stop with those three players but with Garrett Huff, Dalton Smith, Mason McCready, and Kyler Rieken who all made a huge impact last season.
These players have a mentality of going at every opponent with a personal goal. It all starts before they even get off the bus to take on an opponent. These players are going to be locked in for every game and ready to go inning-by-inning, pitch-by-pitch.
The Bulldogs have a full slate of games coming up with one tonight against West Monona, Thursday against Audubon, and on Friday against AHSTW.
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