Northeast Nodaway comes into the season with as high expectations as they have since Coach Vance Proffitt has been here. For his part, Coach Proffitt said that every team in the conference would be a team to watch, declining to single out any team to beat. But on the other hand, nearly every coach on KMA Radio has tabbed Northeast as a team to beat this year. That means they will encounter some games where the other team rolls over, but other games where a team plays well over their heads to try to knock Northeast off their perch.
The Bluejays no longer have to worry about the numbers game, at least for now, thanks to a solid freshman contingent. They have 16 players out for baseball this year. Signing up this year are Levi Boulting, Austin Welch, Alex Smith, Spencer Weir, Cameron Staples, Brayden Welch, Chet Spire, Rory Bredlow, Chase Atkins, Drew Wiederholt, Chance Barber, Maverick Price, Reed McIntyre, Spencer Gray, Dylan Mildfeldt, and Ethan Adwell.
Last year’s team generated plenty of buzz and excitement as they made a run to the Elite Eight before falling to LaPlata. They hope to duplicate the feat of the basketball teams at Northeast, which still hold eight different state records in basketball, and the cheerleaders, which made their third straight trip to state this year.
One of the main pitchers will be Spencer Weir. Chet Spire, Ethan Adwell, and Cameron Staples will be thrown in the mix. When not pitching, Weir will play shortstop. Staples was auditioned at third, while Ethan Adwell played shortstop last year when Weir was on the mound. Chance Barber returns to anchor second, Dylan Mildfeldt returns to patrol center field when he is not making a bid for the 100 State Title, and Brayden Welch returns to left field. Everything else is up for grabs. “We have a lot of different options we can try,” said assistant Cody Green, who returns to assist Proffitt.
This year will rekindle the sibling rivalry between Cody and Micah Green, who helped coach at St. Joseph Christian. The two teams met in Sectionals and Cody had his own cheering section of kids from his youth group at Crossroads Church in Grant City with a poster that said, “Our Green is better than your Green.” Appropriately enough, given the family name, the Bluejays and Lions met on St. Patrick’s day as well, with the Lions winning 2-0.
The Bluejays are the four-time defending conference champions of the 275, which absorbed the Northwest Missouri Baseball Conference. Two years ago, that streak looked to be in jeopardy as NEN started off 1-3 in conference play, but proceeded to run the table to scramble back to 5-3 and share the title with two other teams. Last year, Proffitt was worried about the team’s youth and the Bluejays seemed to fulfill his worst expectations at first, dropping their first three. But then they only lost one more game until Quarterfinals, winning the conference, setting a school record with 13 wins, and breaking a three game losing streak in districts. The goal will be to build on that with plenty of teams gunning for their scalp.
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