Baseball steals their way through season
In Major League Baseball, home runs are king.
But back at The Nest, the Redhawks are attempting to steal the throne and make base running and stealing bases the new royal family.
We average about 6 a game as a team, so it’s pretty good,
— senior Cade McGarrh
It’s a strategy most teams utilize, but few do it on the level of the Redhawks baseball team.
Their swift swiping of bases is at the top of the leaderboard in the area with the team’s baserunning the focus of a Dallas Morning News article.
It’s also led the team to a second place tie in the District 9-5A standings as the regular season nears its end.
“I think we average about six a game as a team, so it’s pretty good,” senior Cade McGarrh said. “We tend to run the bases a lot when we get on base and do anything we can to create runs.”
The Redhawks have built up a reputation of swiping bases, with senior and Texas Tech commit Cade McGarrh leading the area and the state with 38 stolen bases.
Teammates seniors Lawson Towne and Caden Wartluft are also in the top 10 in the area for stolen bases.
‘It’s really all about reading the pitcher, and just pick your pitch that you want to steal on and just go,” Towne said.
“It just depends on the pitcher and how good the catcher’s arm is and we just run,” Warluft said.
For the Redhawks opponents, the constant paranoia of a player stealing can be frustrating, but it’s beneficial for the Redhawks on the base paths and in the batter’s box.
All of a sudden they are trying to be quicker to the plate, and that helps the hitter,
— head coach Scott McGarrh
“When a pitcher gets on the mound and he knows we got guys that can run, they tend to try to pick multiple times,” head Coach Scott McGarrh said. “Then all of a sudden they are trying to be quicker to the plate, and that helps the hitter.”
The Redhawks end their season with a two game series where they will try to not only steal a couple more bags, but also steal the 9-5A District title against first place Lone Star.
Watching the pitcher, senior Caden Wartluft takes a lead off first. Wartluft is third on the team with 22 steals.
With his hands already on second base, senior Lawson Towne beats the tag of the Memorial shortstop for one of his 25 stolen bases.
The Redhawks baseball team faced the Trail Blazers on Wednesday after a rescheduled game. They fell to Lebanon Trail 2-9, but are looking for improvement when they face them again on Friday.
Aggressiveness on the bases is part of the Redhawks success this year with team trying to take an extra base whenever it can. Against Memorial High School, that meant senior Cade McGarrh stealing home. However, the Memorial Warriors are quick and stop the Redhawks.
A cloud of dust forms over home plate as McGarrh beats the tag of the Memorial catcher giving the Redhawks another run. With two games left in the District 9-5A season, McGarrh has stole home several times this year.
TJ Krilowicz is going into his senior year and is in his 4th year at Wingspan. TJ is the host of the weekly segment on the WTV Daily Update “Trivia With...
