By Carson Hall
The pressure of making a diving catch, throwing a strike, and hitting a two-strike fastball can be overwhelming, but when you have full trust in your teammates, it makes it much easier.
“We just trust each other more, especially when we are in a tight situation in a game,” senior Gavin Case said. “There is no stress at all because we know that we can handle it.”
Case along with fellow seniors Zane Cline, Chase Flannery, Palmer Phillips, Campbell Light and Lane Norton have been playing on the same travel baseball team for six years.
Now they are among 10 seniors going into their last high school season together. This is their final opportunity to win state for Delta, after falling just short in semi-state to Twin Lakes last spring.
Fourth-year baseball head coach Devin Wilburn has been coaching these boys since they were freshmen when he first came to Delta.
Wilburn’s first year as the head coach didn’t go well as their record was 9-17 overall and 1-13 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference.
In his second year as the head coach they showed gradual progress as their record improved to 11-17 overall and 2-12 in the conference.
Last year was the best improvement they have seen as their record drastically improved to 21-9 overall and 6-8 in the conference. This is the year they went on to semi-state and lost in the first round to Twin Lakes, 2-0.
“This year’s different. We’ve got to have an even higher expectation this year,” Wilburn said.
Since they came up short last year they have been working hard in the offseason. Wilburn said they have mostly been working on getting their hitters up to speed because they are typically ahead with the pitching game.
Wilburn has high hopes for this team as he thinks this is the strongest team he’s had in his high school coaching career. Yet with such a strong team there comes other challenges with that, such as fighting for positions and playing time.
Wilburn and the rest of the coaching staff try their hardest to keep their players happy. Although they have plenty of talent shining on the JV team, the varsity team has even more.
“These six seniors are a really talented group and have really bought into what we were doing,” he says. “They have just helped raise the bar all around.”
Pitcher / middle infielder Zane Cline has just recently committed to Taylor University to pursue his dream of playing college baseball. He says the main reasons for the commitment to Taylor was because of their strong baseball program and the Christian community at Taylor.
Zane says he has worked on hitting as well as his pitching mechanics to throw faster than he did last year. Zane reached mid to high 80s last year and his goal is to hit low 90s this year. He also worked on his endurance and cardio to be able to play as many innings as he can for the team.
Outfielder Gavin Case, who does not plan on pursuing baseball in college, plans to go to trade school to become an electrician.
Gavin mainly focused on his hitting fundamentals, such as staying back on the ball.
In most cases the seniors have the most experience on the team, which is exactly why Wilburn gave them the task of being the leaders of the team and bring up the confidence in the underclassmen for the future of this program.
All of the seniors are leaders in their own way, but third baseman Campbell Light has been chosen as the main leader of keeping the team on track of what they are supposed to be doing. He leads the stretches before practice and the warmups.
“Campbell’s not the loudest guy in the room, but he’s always the guy who does things he’s supposed to do,” Wilburn said.
Outfielder Chase Flannery transferred from Muncie Central High School last year, coming to Delta his junior year. For much of the season he was only able to play JV because of the IHSAA transfer rule.
Now coming into this year Chase is looking forward to the opportunities in front of him. He mainly worked on his pitching as he wants to contribute in more ways than just being a hitter and outfielder.
Chase does not plan to go to college for baseball, as he plans to go to the University of Cincinnati and major in medical imaging and become an MRI technician. He says he then plans to move on into the field of medical sales afterward.
The influence for this future was his brother, William, who passed away last year from cancer. As William was going through treatments in prior years, it influenced Chase heavily. He says he wants to help more people in the future.
Catcher Lane Norton is just looking forward to his last year with his buddies. Lane mainly worked on the speed of his throw to second base to cut down potential stealers.
Lane does not plan to pursue college as he wants to be an apprentice for a wireman.
Outfielder Palmer Phillips is mainly looking forward to this team making a run to state. He thinks this is their year to make a name for themselves in the conference and in the state.
Palmer does not plan to pursue baseball in college, as he wants to study sports management.
They all believe that they have a chance of winning state, but they have to prove themselves.
This team has “Big Expectations” this year.
