Eagles ready to get season underway

Coming into the season, the Zionsville baseball team hasn’t changed their goals and aspirations for what they can do this year.

The Eagles are getting ready to kick off the season this weekend in Tennessee and hope it is the start of a successful multi-month journey.

“This group has the talent to go pretty deep in the tournament, but you never know with our sectional being what it is,” Zionsville head coach Jered Moore said.

“I think we expect to be toward the top of the conference and competing for a sectional, but we have to go out and perform like we are capable of.”

The Eagles have been able to get outdoors a decent amount so far in practice – which isn’t always the case with the spring weather in the Midwest.

While there are certainly some things to continue to improve on, Moore said the pre-season has gone well.

“This is a veteran group and they are out there having fun,” Moore said. “They expect big things and it will be interesting to see what happens but it’s been good so far.”

The Eagles return a good portion of their team that finished 18-11 a year ago.

Moore said the team has an 11-player senior class that has done a good job of helping the team get ready for the upcoming season.

“Our seniors have all stepped up,” Moore said.

“We haven’t had anyone really emerge as that ‘one true leader,’ but collectively they are doing a great job.”

At the plate, Riley Agbonhese returns after hitting .414 with 16 runs scored and 13 RBIs a year ago.

Wrigley Bumgardner hit .380 with 18 runs scored, and Jackson Tielker hit .338 with 14 RBIs and 13 runs scored.

Josh Girvan also returns to help anchor the midfield.

On the mound, Nash Wagner (1.66 ERA, 53 strikeouts), Mateo Wells (2.00 ERA, 35 innings pitched) and Simon Wilkinson (2.37 ERA, 28 strikeouts in 23 innings) return to the rotation.

Chase Wagner (0.88 ERA, 62 strikeouts in 40 innings) is also back and will be a key piece out of the bullpen.

Ryder Weisenbach and Brady Shaw will also add pitching depth.

“Pitching is going to be our strength,” Moore said.

“We have some good arms and defensively I think we will be solid too. It is all going to come down to if they have the seasons they are capable of.”

The Eagles will play four games in the Warrior Spring Classic in Tennessee against teams from down south have have been playing for more than a month already.

Moore said it will be a good early season test, and the Eagles have been fine tuning things as much as possible to get ready for the trip.

“We still need to work on some of our defense right now,” Moore said. “We have some really good players, but we have some new guys who are going to be filling in this year. I want to see us improve offensively too. We have guys who are capable of having good years, it just may take a little bit to get going.”