Northeast Nodaway will play its first year with a cooperative agreement with Worth County. The Bluejays were figuring on playing the numbers game this year, with the possibility of not having a team. But Worth County voted to join the cooperative, meaning that they have a healthy 14 players out for baseball this year.
Out for the squad this year are Jace Cameron, Brayden Stevens, Tyler New, Dylan McIntyre, Grant McIntyre, Landon Wilmes, Chase Clabaugh, Gage Bodle, Carter Chapman, Elias Alarcon, Sawyer Thurman, Camdain Frisch, Boston Adwell, and Drew Dack.
Northeast will move up to Class 2 this year, meaning that while they won’t have to worry about St. Joseph Christian or Platte Valley, they will have to play much bigger schools if they are to get out of districts. They will know right away how good they are, as they have to play Christian, Mid-Buchanan, and Maryville right out of the gate.
The conference schedule will not be any easier, with teams like Platte Valley and East Atchison figuring to contend. South Holt will be right up there as well, bringing everyone back from last year. Nodaway Valley will be a handful as they took Northeast to extra innings, and Rock Port beat Platte Valley this year. North Nodaway could show some improvement as they have most of their players back.
The back end of the schedule will be loaded as well, with a showdown against Platte Valley, a trip to a tough North Platte squad that gave the Bluejays everything they could handle, and a dangerous Gilman City squad. That game will be Northeast’s Senior Night.
Vance Proffitt will return for the Bluejays for his final year before he becomes the Principal at King City. He will once again be assisted by Cody Green. The game against Christian will once again feature a brother against brother battle as his brother Micah will be one of the Christian coaches. The Lions will also have James Schoonover as one of their coaches; during his Mound City days, he was a very strong kid who brought down Chuck Borey in celebration after they had teamed up to win the Eight Man All Star Game.
The Bluejays have several horses from previous campaigns. Dylan McIntyre, one of the top pitchers in the area, returns for this year. Drew Dack is a promising freshman pitcher. One of the biggest question marks is catcher, anchored for the last few years by Colton Swalley. Whoever gets the job will have some big shoes to fill. Grant McIntyre could fill the slot; he caught a game last year for the Bluejays. Another big hole is first base, as Auston Pride has graduated. Boston Adwell returns this year to anchor third base. If he doesn’t catch, Grant McIntyre will return to his center field slot. Landon Wilmes broke into the starting lineup in right field as a freshman last year and made several key catches there last year.
One of the most improved players from last year is Chase Clabaugh, who put on some muscle this year and was hitting the ball sharply in practice. A freshman, Gaige Bodle, was also showing some promise at the plate.
The Worth County kids have all caught on fast and will be able to help. Tyler New and Elias Alarcon have traveled before and could anchor the infield. Jace Cameron and Sawyer Thurman showed some range and caught most of the balls hit to them Friday. Camdain Frisch is one of the fastest players on the team. Carter Chapman has morphed into a really tall kid and could be part of the puzzle at first base. Brayden Stevens, only a freshman, could jump right in after he gets cleared to play from a knee injury sustained in football.
Practices are now held later for Northeast to accommodate the Worth County kids. Some of them do both track and baseball, so the Worth County kids do their track practice, then go over to Ravenwood in the school van, driven by Cody Green.
The team took hitting drills for the first time Friday. They started off by working on technique in the batting cage, then worked their way to the plate, where Coach Proffitt tossed some balls to the players to hit. They also worked on baserunning, with Coach Green giving pointers on how to run the bases. While they are cousins, Dylan and Grant McIntyre have a sibling rivalry like brothers. During one turn at the batting cage, Dylan absolutely crushed one to deep center field, only for Grant to trot back and catch it and make it look effortless.
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