The varsity baseball program is running through competition and has no signs of slowing down. The team is currently carrying a 28-2 record and approaching the program high – the 2018 team’s record of 31-2.
The Falcons roster is charted full of talented players, as ten athletes are going to compete at the collegiate level, four of whom are signing to Division 1 programs. The team is led by head coach Dionandre Josenberger, or “Coach D” to the players. He is in his first year with the team and is coaching them to an outstanding season. The team’s key to success this year is an impressive pitching staff that includes multiple seniors to create a strong run-prevention system. The pitching staff along with run-support from the batting lineup is good for a 179/78 (2.29) run differential, one of the best in the district. The starting rotation and bullpen also worked to pitch six shutouts on the season and several quality starts.
“I just fell into my role, and focused on what I can do to help the team when I get the opportunities,” senior pitcher and versatile utility player Lakin Kelly said.
Pitching isn’t the only cornerstone to the team’s success, multiple players are swinging hot bats and producing runs. They’ve smashed eight home runs and knocked in a total of 121 team RBIs. To supplement the power statistics, the team is also finding ways to get on base and get hits with a team batting average of .329 and a team on-base percentage of .424. Statistics aren’t everything special about this team, as they have a very large roster and multiple players are still producing hits and runs even though they might not be in the starting lineup.
“Coach D knows how teams work,” Green said. “He knows whether players are good to play against certain teams.”
Despite the program’s history of success since 2009, the team has never seen a State Championship title. The closest they have been to one was second place in 2015 for Class 5. With former head coach David Wilson retiring last year, the success of the team was uncertain, as many seniors were moving on, and new roster spaces were opening. Along with roster changes, players would need to learn to adjust to a new playstyle introduced by Josenberger that seemed to differ from Wilson’s strategy which had led to consecutive winning seasons since 2010. But even with a hall-of-fame coach retiring, Josenberger had a lot to work with to build a winning team, with plenty of young talent and senior leaders to help continue the history of winning,
“It’s been great; I think he understands us very well, and he’s a pretty good coach,” senior Easton Phillippe said.
Phillippe primarily plays catcher, but is the swiss army knife of the defense, and plays multiple positions.
“It was a big transition for everyone, but I think everyone’s adapted, and it’s showing. I think it’s a great transition,” Phillippe said.
Josenberger isn’t only making great ballplayers but engaged student athletes as well. The team has a minimum GPA requirement of 3.25, and each player is accountable for their own classroom performance and behavior in order to participate in baseball activities.
“School is always first. You’re not always going to play baseball,” Green said. “You’re going to have to have an education at some point.”
Along with grade and behavior policies in the team, a new persona and identity of the team was adopted. The acronym “LPM”, meaning “lunch pail mentality” was collected by the team, and has been a representation of team attitude and grit.
“It means show up, do your job, do it right, and do it correctly,” Green said. “Every single time in the fall, we would have workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays or Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so we would show up and do our job, then leave knowing we were better than yesterday.”
New changes were brought to the baseball diamond as well as technical tweaks to the batting lineup and pitching rotation, utilizing power pitching and hitting. Under Wilson, the lineup was characterized by a contact-to-power hitting scheme, but Josenberger’s lineup switched to power hitting up front and contact hitting on the back end of the lineup. The new format of the team is using certain players’ strengths to specific situations in games, and building lineups by player hitting tendencies, as well as using experienced hitters.
“Now with the new coach, he knows what he wants, and he wants us to be the best players we can be and try to make a run for state,” senior Brody Irlbeck said.
Irlbeck is playing his fourth year at the school and is primarily a pitcher but has seen reps at the plate.
“We put in a lot of work in the off season, so their work’s been shown, and I feel like we’re playing good,” Irlbeck said.
Even with the need for experience on the team, varsity spots this season aren’t reserved just for upperclassmen. Sophomores and freshmen are getting their shot to play varsity level games. Sophomore defensive utility man Andrew Maultsby and freshman pitcher Krue Patrick have bonded well through baseball but are more importantly sharing the field among juniors and seniors at varsity games. Patrick, being a freshman, has worked his way into varsity’s starting rotation and is making a big impact in the team’s pitching success despite his grade level.
“We’re just going to go out, do our thing, and win the most games we can,” Patrick said. “I’ve got a long road ahead of me, and I’m going to do the best I can and try my best and see where we can go.”
Maultsby is in his second year with the program, and after making some starts last year in the batting lineup and at catcher, Maultsby has expectations for himself to become a leader on the team.
“I really just come in wanting to get better every day,” Maultsby said. “I try to do whatever I can to get the rest of the team on the same page with that mindset.”
While they still continue to push through the long season, the possibility of a state championship is becoming the discussion among the team. The addition of a new head coach in Josenberger didn’t seem to have a negative impact on the team, even with a few doubts of the team’s success before the start of the season. The players still have a sense of pride in the team and visible enthusiasm seen in the dugout at both home and away games.
“You would feel a lot of excitement, and you would feel like you’re on the team,” Green said about the dugout atmosphere. “You feel like everybody around you would just be jumping up and down. We have players standing on the benches, so it’s a great environment to be in the dugout.”
Multiple players on the team have made it clear that a district championship is in sight, but the ultimate goal is the team’s first state championship. They are looking to carry their steady rhythm into the playoffs to make it further in the postseason than they ever have. After losing to Liberty High School to end the 2024 season, they are proving to be a different team, even with the pressure of success and a target on their back.
“We just go and play our game and don’t worry about the outside noise,” Kelly said.
There are still multiple games left, but they are currently riding a wave of success. As the team’s chase for a state championship continues, they will face off against common district opponents, including their senior night game May 7 against Blue Springs South.
