Park Hill junior Tyson Kiser was a starter last year when the Trojans were 12-18.
KANSAS CITY – Having to replace most of the senior pitchers from the 2023 Park Hill baseball team might be a challenge for the Trojans in 2024.
In the second year under Jon Davis, Park Hill is looking to build off a 12-18 campaign, which was a four-win improvement from the season prior. With only one senior starter coming back, outfielder Kaeden Pak, some younger guys will have to step up.
“This seems to be a very hard-working, close-knit group,” Davis said. “We will be sophomore and junior heavy with our roster.”
Juniors Tyson Kiser, Logan Hampton and Jaxon Miller were starters last year along with sophomore outfielder Caelin Bradford. Hampton and Miller have experience as catcher and Kiser plays second base and shortstop.
“This year – unlike other years in the past – we will have a lot of depth at most positions, along with very versatile players who can play in multiple spots. We will have lots of options on the mound although the pitching staff is very young,” Davis said.
Sophomore Bryson Augustyn is going to start the season on the mound for the Trojans. The rest of the pitching lineup is left in the air.
“Our pitching is very young; we had 190 innings thrown last year and 160 of those were from seniors. After Bryson, those innings are yet to be determined but it will be fun to watch these young arms emerge and develop into quality varsity players,” Davis said.
Senior Zane Baker pitched some last year and played first base, and Travis Porter filled into center field. Park Hill is coming off a season only averaging 4.5 runs per game and is looking to improve the offensive play in a tough conference.
“Our returners need to take a big step forward for our offense to provide consistent production with such a young pitching staff that will be developing throughout the year. We expect Kiser, Porter, Hampton, Miller, Pak, and Bradford to take huge steps forward from last year to provide our offense with more consistency,” Davis said.