Tigerhawk baseball expects to compete for SICL crown

Members of the Colfax-Mingo baseball team are tuned into the Internet. The Tigerhawks have seen the preseason predictions. They have addressed it to each other and moved on.

The Tigerhawks were picked to finish fourth in the South Iowa Cedar League West Division by iowapreps.com. There are six teams total.

“They saw that, and they all agreed that that’s not what should happen,” Colfax-Mingo coach Greer Milledge said. “We have a bunch of guys back from last year. The kids want to be great. I think they can compete. This sport is one this school can be great at.”

Colfax-Mingo went 14-16 in Milledge’s first season as head coach. The Tigerhawks finished 7-9 in their first season in the SICL. Of the 16 losses, eight were by three runs or less.

Lynnville-Sully, the preseason favorite according to Iowa Preps, finished 13-3 in the league last year. The Hawks went 3-0 against Colfax-Mingo but all three games were decided by a total of six runs.

“We should compete for the SICL title,” Milledge said. “We could be an undefeated team in the conference, but you just don’t know what team will show up every night. That’s how it is in baseball. If our pitchers are on, we’ll be tough to beat.”

The top five starting pitchers from last year are all back.

Juniors Jonathan Jacobs and Alex Lewis lead the way. Jacobs missed the first half of last year but finished with an earned run average of 1.91 in 18 1/3 innings. Lewis logged 33 1/3 innings, finished 3-2 and had an ERA of 2.91.

“I think they’ll split time as our ace,” Milledge said. “Jonathan is more of a power pitcher, and Alex throws more off-speed stuff. So both guys compliment each other.

The rest of the staff includes sophomore Zarek Hill, freshman Trystin Ross and junior Jarod Nichols.

Ross and Hill come into the season as the No. 3 and 4 starters.

Hill logged the most innings (50) on the team and had an ERA of 3.08. Ross was 2-0 in three starts, including a win over Class 2A Prairie City-Monroe. He had an ERA of 2.53.

The 2017 season will be the first in which a mandatory pitch count goes into effect.

The most pitches a pitcher can throw in one outing is 110, but eighth-graders and freshmen can only toss 150 pitches in a week.

“I don’t think the new rules will affect us as much as it affects other teams,” Milledge said. “I feel like we have a lot of pitching depth.”

The top returning hitter for the Tigerhawks is junior Misha Seebeck. He batted .398 last year with 24 runs, 15 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Seebeck was an honorable mention all-conference selection last year.

Three other returners batted better than .300, including seniors Adam Teed (.356) and Jimmy Camp (.302) and Hill (.350). All three players had on base percentages of at least .429 and stole at least 16 bases.

Teed earned second team all-conference honors in 2016, and Hill was an honorable mention selection.

The rest of the lineup should be filled in with returners Nichols (.283), freshman Brady Berkey (.333 in 18 at-bats) and senior Wyatt Owens (.257) and newcomer Cameron Warner, a senior.

According to Milledge, Warner will make an immediate impact and freshman Trinity Schroeder will have a bigger role.

“We have some depth,” Milledge said. “The seniors we lost are going to be hard to replace, but we have a few who should fill in nicely.”

The Tigerhawks open the 2017 season against the SICL preseason favorite Lynnville-Sully Hawks at 6 p.m. Monday in Colfax.