All season long, North Platte has envisioned playing its best baseball in the postseason.
While they are under .500, head coach Daniel Atkinson is optimistic for another postseason run. After losing seven players from last year’s district champion team, North Platte knew this year would be a challenge.
“I knew we were going to be young coming in this season,” Atkinson said. “I didn’t know we’d have this much fight. That makes me excited to coach these kids every day. They play hard. Mistakes or not, they come back to compete and battle. I can’t ask for much more.”
The Panthers have four seniors and five freshmen on the varsity squad. With such a young roster, Atkinson has already seen some great progress from his team, including from players playing out of their preferred position.
“We’ve got a few guys that are playing in spots they don’t normally play in,” Atkinson said. ‘They just fit into our team that way. We’ve got some really good leadership in the upperclassmen, which can be hard to do in baseball if you’ve made a few errors.”
Senior infielder Ben Jaycox has been one of those players who has provided leadership despite playing numerous positions. He still shows up and performs, playing most recently at shortstop.
Among the freshmen to step up is catcher Nolan Dehn. Atkinson noted that Dehn is very knowledgeable and calls a good game from behind the plate.
In North Platte’s most recent defeat, a 6-0 loss to West Platte, the Panthers were knocking on the door numerous times with a chance to tie it or take the lead. Despite a quality start from junior Hunter Palmer, who gave up two earned runs in five innings with five strikeouts, the Panthers were unable to find a timely hit.
North Platte’s success this season has come from timely hits, which helped them take down Osborn 10-4 on April 16. The Panthers want more timely hits and to clean up some other aspects of their game defensively and on the basepaths, but the focus going forward is clear.
“Work hard now and play our best baseball in May,” Atkinson said.
With a 6-10 record, North Platte wants to build up some momentum in the second half of the regular season before district play, which begins May 16.