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Herscher Baseball Outlook 2024
“1999 Class A State Champions, 2012 AA 3rd Place, 2018 AA 4th Place”
Head Coach - Eric Regez (32nd year) Superintendent-Dr. Richard S. Decman
Asst. Varsity – Todd Wolter Principal-Brad Elliot
Asst. Varsity – Austin Headrick Athletic Director-Todd Schwarzkopf
JV Coach - Craig Bisaillon Conference – Illinois Central 8
JV Asst. – Dale Hall Colors-Black and Gold
Enrollment – 480 (2A) Classification 2A
Athletic Trainer-Garett Demierre Mascot-Tigers
2023 Season Final Record 14-22 The Tigers lost to Seneca 7-2 in the Regional Quarterfinal. Herscher went 4-10 in the Illinois Central Eight Conference. Herscher has won 320 of its last 399 conference games mixed between the River Valley, the Interstate 8 and the ICE. 31 year record at Herscher (760-317-4 .706) including 51 championships, 4 state appearances, and 5 summer titles.
Returning Letterman: Keegan Andre JR C, Paul Azzarelli SR IF, Tanner Jones SO RHP-3B,
Jarrett Wakey SR LHP-OF.
Promising Newcomers, Cam Baker SO RHP-IF, Connor Buckley SO C, Nash Brubaker SO RHP-1B, Logan Egerton JR OF, Brennen Gessner JR OF, Alec Nicholos JR RHP-U, Austin Powell, JR IF, Mason Roberts SO RHP-SS, Paityn Young JR LHP-OF.
2024 Varsity Outlook:
The Herscher Varsity Baseball squad will be attempting to improve upon a 2023 season that had a number of underclassmen plug in at key positions throughout the campaign. The team played some great competition within the Illinois Central Eight Conference and were able to win a few more conference games than the previous season. This year’s group will be uncharacteristically young as compared to Tiger squads in the past. Many sophomores and juniors will form the team’s nucleus heading into the season. The Tiger’s returners are led by starting Senior LHP-OF Jarrett Wakey who will be expected to provide leadership and be at the top of the order offensively after collecting 31 hits during the 2023 season. Sophomore Tanner Jones returns after taking over the starting job at 3B last season and getting 83 AB’s worth of experience and hitting a robust .349. Junior Keegan Andre returns after catching the majority of innings and collecting 18 hits with the bat. The pitching staff has some returning experience and therefore will be looked upon as a plus. Senior Left hander Wakey started 6 games and recorded 37 Ks. Sophomore Right Hander Cam Baker had 6 appearances and logged 25 innings in 2023. Juniors Alec Nicholos, Payten Young, and Logan Egerton along with Sophomores Nash Brubaker and Jones will also be counted on to chew up innings throughout the duration of the season on the mound.
Times are super exciting with Herscher Baseball as the 2024 season will be played on our new Turf field which includes both the infield and outfield having a fantastic synthetic appearance. This will allow the squad to work around the difficult Illinois spring season baseball elements to hopefully play as many games as possible.
As far as the 2024 outlook goes, we are hoping with a young and inexperienced team to show improvement as the season moves along. The 2024 team needs to use the challenge of tough games in the early season schedule to improve at a fast rate to prepare for a very difficult tour through the Illinois Central 8.
The team goal is simple and includes trying to improve everyday in order to compete better in the Illinois Central 8 Conference. If the team progresses as expected and everyone stays healthy - look for the Tigers to make strides and show much improvement during the 2024 campaign.