By Gail Wood
Mike Bruner had reasons to think this was going to be a stumble-and-grow season for his Montesano High School baseball team.
With just five players returning with any varsity experience and with only three seniors on the roster, the team’s new school color might have fittingly been green – green for inexperienced.
“A lot of them were freshmen and sophomores,” said Bruner, who is in his eighth year as the Bulldogs’ head baseball coach.
Last season, Montesano stumbled through a 9-11 year with an inexperienced lineup, missing the playoffs for the first time in seven years. But eight games into the season, this year’s Bulldogs are already one win short of matching last season’s win total, going 8-0.
Montesano, with blowout wins against Elma and Rainier, has been winning with solid pitching, hot hitting and good defense. Over the summer, as his players played American Legion baseball, Bruner saw things coming together. As they got more experience, things started to click.
“They were a lot less cognitive when they were playing. It freed them up,” Bruner said. “They started to think we can do this. We can be a good team. It inspired them to work hard, so they’ve blossomed to a pretty competitive team.”
The five players with varsity action that return for this season are Jordan Bussard, at catcher, Jacob Hliboki at third, Riley Olsen at pitcher and center field, Cole Nelson at first base after playing center field last season, and Maguire Cavanaugh at shortstop. As also back are Jake Herzog, Sawyer Rhoden and Kyle Englund, three solid gloves who got some varsity action last year.
Olsen, after always playing outfield, got his first chance at pitching last year when his coach moved him to that position. To make sure he was ready for his senior season, Olsen worked hard during the off season on his pitching mechanics. The hard work has paid off and he’s now the Bulldogs’ number one pitcher and Englund, a junior, is number two.
“Riley just really, really worked hard to get himself where he’s at right now,” Bruner said. “So he’s enjoying the fruits of his labor, I’d guess you’d say. Kyle, he’s right there on Riley’s heels. They’re a pretty solid one, two combination. They’re both to the point where they seem to keep getting better and coming into their own.”
Helping them to improve is Bussard, a first-team, all-league catcher last year. Bussard is hardly a rookie behind the plate. He’s been a catcher since he first started playing baseball, even back when he played t-ball 12 years ago.
“I always like being in the play every play,” Bussard said when asked why he likes playing catcher. “It just stuck with me.”
In their nine game win streak to start the season, the Bulldogs outscored their opponents 88-30. They’re averaging nine runs a game. Hitting, getting on base, has been contagious.
“Our bats have been going pretty good,” Bussard said. “Hard work pays off. Staying focused and doing what we’re supposed to do all pays off in a game.”
This has been one team that’s pulled together, played hard together. They’re friends.
“We’re like one big family,” Bussard said. “Someone does something wrong, we overcome that. We stay together.”
To help build that team unity, the Bulldogs have a pizza night at a teammate’s house or they go to a movie. Bussard, who has been volunteering at the fire department during the school year, isn’t surprised by his team’s fast start.
“I figured if we’d play the way we can play, we’d make good things happen,” Bussard said. “I’m excited to see where it goes.”
Besides learning how to pitch, Olsen has had to learn how to be “the man,” how to be the guy who makes every pitch. It’s different than standing in center field and getting a ball hit his way every once in a while. Now, as a pitcher, he’s in on every play. Olsen admits that was a “bit” of an adjustment.
“I also had to learn how to get a quick flush mechanism going and to keep focused,” Olsen said.
Having an all-league catcher behind the plate has helped Olsen.
“I like him a lot,” Olsen said about Bussard. “He helps me out a lot when I’m not throwing my best.”
Hliboki, the Bulldogs’ starting third baseman for the past two years, likes the challenge of playing third.
“I like taking the line drives, the hot shots,” he said. “I’ve played third since I was a little kid. I’m used to it.”
Hliboki isn’t surprised by his team’s fast start and he said no one is getting over confident, taking an opponent lightly.
“We’ve worked really hard,” he said. “We go into every game thinking we’re 0 – 0 still. We just focus on that day.”
And they focus on winning. Cavanaugh said the winning has been a confidence boost.
“All we heard last year was you guys are young, you guys are young,” Cavanaugh said. “Coming out this year and getting some wins is great.”
Winning and playing baseball are Cavanaugh’s focus. He’s not worried about another challenge that faces him – the state golf tournament. As the Bulldogs’ number two golfer, he made the state tournament in the fall which is held in May.
“Well, I’m definitely more dedicated to baseball than I am to golf,” Cavanaugh said. “I kind of do golf to have something to do in the fall. Once this starts it’s all baseball, nothing else.”
It’s been a winning formula for Montesano.
