Youth spells bright future for Bell baseball

Despite missing the baseball playoffs for a second straight season, L.D. Bell baseball coach Paul Gibson believes his team is moving in the direction of a return to the postseason.

Gibson is already anticipating next season and the push for a return as they enter a new district with optimism and some solid returning talent.

“When I look ahead, I see a lot of kids (five returning starters and five returning lettermen) coming back,” Gibson said. “The last two seasons we have had only three total returning.”

The Raiders finished 11-14 overall and 2-10 in District 7-6A. A lack of offense hampered them, especially in league play.

The loss of senior outfielder/pitcher Mason Peterson, a four-year starter who has signed to play for Howard Junior College, was also a factor. He missed the season to have Tommy John surgery on his arm.

Still, in Peterson’s absence, Gibson praised the seniors on his team for doing what is expected of leaders.

“We had very good leadership from our seniors. I felt like the kids played hard every night,” he said. “The injury to Mason and lack of depth seemed to hurt us late in games.”

That lack of depth, however, will turn into experience next season. There are several underclassmen to whom Gibson can turn for leadership next season.

Three sophomores who will be juniors next season will provide a lot of pitching potential. Jacob Rose averaged a strikeout per inning (12 with three walks in 12.2 innings, a 1-1 record, 4.42 earned run average). Blake Empkey posted a 2.05 ERA, and Johnny Sifuentes was 1-for-1 in a save opportunity.

Sophomore-to-be Mason Ornelas, a third baseman and pitcher, showed strong potential at both positions. He drove in a team-best 11 RBI, batted .250, and was 1-3 pitching with a 3.35 ERA, 18 strikeouts and nine walks in 31.1 innings.

Gibson listed the highlight of the season being when the Raiders went 6-0 in a tournament the second weekend of the season. That and the progress made by the younger players who will provide the future of the program were the best things to come from the 2016 campaign, he said.

“We’ve got several players that hopefully learned the speed of a varsity game and what it’s going to take to win,” he said.

The Bell junior varsity went 6-5 against what Gibson called “some very good teams.”

The Raiders will lose nine seniors to graduation, including their top three hitters, Preston Newman (.292), Jarrett Fuller (.292) and Nathanial Bassett (.273). The top returning hitter will be senior-to-be catcher Collin Killough (.268).

The Raiders will move into a new district next season. Along with Bell and rival Trinity, it will feature Lewisville, Flower Mound, Lewisville Hebron, Lewisville Marcus, Northwest Nelson and Southlake Carroll. Of those, Flower Mound, Hebron, Carroll and Trinity advanced to the playoffs this season, with only Trinity not getting past bi-district.

One of Bell’s district wins was 3-2 over Trinity.

“It’s going to be two more years of very competitive baseball every game,” Gibson said.

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 11:19 AM with the headline "Youth spells bright future for Bell baseball."