David Walden is always impatient this time of year. The Legacy baseball coach makes it very clear that he's more than ready for his Broncos to take the field and start the season.
"It's been a long off-season," Walden said. "From September until now, it's forever."Walden has more than enough reason to be excited for the upcoming season. Legacy is coming off a playoff appearance and not just changing districts, but changing from Class 5A to 4A.He also is excited to see some brand-new players take on new roles. The Broncos will have an almost entirely new pitching staff, with a majority of the pitchers joining varsity for the first time."We're excited about the prospects of what they'll be able to do," Walden said. "Until they get under fire, it'll be difficult to see what happens."Walden said Legacy's best skill right now is its defense. With the pitchers being new, however, Walden admits they'll have to grow into varsity players before the defense performs the way he thinks it can.Legacy will need all the pitching and defense it can get as Legacy and the rest of the teams in the area continue to adjust to new bat standards introduced last year to help protect pitchers from batted balls.Power numbers were down considerably, and Legacy felt it as much as any team. The Broncos offense was inconsistent last season and Legacy only scored two runs in its playoff series loss to Hurst L.D. Bell in the first round last season.Walden said Legacy had to change the way they played last season - taking more chances on the basepaths, bunting and hit and running."Last year was a big learning curve on how to use those bats and how to score without being able to hit the ball out of the ballpark," Walden. "I don't know, my gut says they'll be better, but you can't tell until you go out there and go through the season.Branden Bohuslav is one of the new pitchers to join varsity. The senior hasn't pitched on varsity yet, but understands a lot will be expected of him and the other young pitchers."I just need to keep a level head," Bohuslav said. "Not over thinking and just relaxing and enjoying the game."Bohuslav said he tries as much as he can to block out whatever his offense will be doing this season and focus on his pitching."It's a lot nicer knowing if you can get runs," he said with a smile. "It doesn't really affect what I do though. I still have to get outs and go out there and perform."Senior catcher Dane Rombach is one of the returners with some varsity experience. He's hoping to help out Bohuslav by improving his swing this season."You can always increase your offensive ability," Rombach said. "With the new bats, runs are rare so whatever you can do to get runs on the board, you do it."Walden is thankful for seniors like Rombach to help the new varsity players get adjusted."It's huge," Walden said. "That'll determine a lot of our success in what kind of leadership those guys can provide when the wheels start wobbling and things aren't perfect."Patience is key with the new players, Walden said. He said he won't dial back any of his teachings or information and hopes the non-district schedule helps the development of his team."There's no substitute for experience and being in the ball game," Walden said. "it's going to take some time for them to figure out what varsity baseball is all about."Rombach said this team should play together and with chemistry right from the start. He said that's his favorite part about the team this season - it's unity and how much everyone likes playing for one another.That showed last week, when Rombach and Bohuslav signed their letters of intent to play college baseball. Plenty of teammates were there to support them.Rombach signed to play at Hill College in Hillsboro. Bohuslav signed with Crowder College in Missouri."The group of kids and our team this year is a little bit different than in the past," Rombach said. "I like the kids, I like this team and I have pretty high expectations for us."Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
