EC Baseball Headed South to Open 2022 Season

EUREKA, Ill. – Spring hasn't arrived in central Illinois just yet, but the Eureka baseball team is ready to hit the diamond.

This weekend, the Red Devils will head south to open the 2022 season with a trio of contests in Jackson, Mississippi.

On Friday, Eureka will start with a 1 p.m. game against the Mississippi University for Women. The Red Devils will follow that with a 3:30 p.m. matchup against the home team, Millsaps, on Saturday. Then, on Sunday, they'll wrap up the weekend with a 10 a.m. showdown against regional foe Edgewood.

The Red Devils are coming off a 2021 season that was full of injuries, COVID-19 interruptions and hard learning experiences for a young squad.

Eureka – which was picked to finish seventh in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference preseason poll – remains young, but fifth-year head coach Jerry Rashid is optimistic that it will be much improved from a year ago.

"We played too many freshmen last year, just by default," Rashid said. "They worked hard, but they just weren't physically ready to take that college season on.

"We are young, but we think we are better prepared this year. We have a little greater depth and more experience than last year."

It starts on the corners, where the Red Devils have brought in a pair of experienced transfers – and in the outfield, where a slew of familiar faces return.

Braden Cox, a junior transfer from Black Hawk College, will start at first base. He previously received all-conference honors from the Inter County Athletic and Tomahawk conference for three straight years at Illini Bluffs.

Lane Marlow, a senior transfer from Roosevelt, will start at third. A two-time All-WIVC honoree and two-time regional champion at Camp Point Central, Marlow joins the Red Devils after Roosevelt ended its program.

In the outfield, the Red Devils return senior Jimmy Peterson, who received First Team All-St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors as a utility player in his first season in maroon and gold last season.

He'll likely spend most of his time in left field this season. In center field, the team welcomes back Caleb Wilson, who returns after taking a year off following the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Sophomore right fielder and returning starter Dylan Hill is looking build on a promising freshman campaign, while senior and hometown product Charles Mangold and junior Nathan Garard will add depth.

Another former Eureka Hornet, Austin Davis, will be the starter at second. Next to him, a pair of freshman newcomers, Nick Rulevish and David Hidden, will compete for the shortstop spot. Sophomores Karter Hostetler and Kelton O'Grady will compete for the starting catcher spot.

In the pitching rotation, sophomore Ryan Bredeson will be the team's No. 1 starter. The crafty left-hander led the Red Devils in innings pitched (54.2) and strikeouts (39) last season.

Junior Parker Brodine returns for his third year in the pitching staff, senior David Throw, who has battled injuries for the past three seasons, is hoping to stay healthy, and sophomore Trevor Wingard is looking to show his improvement from a challenging freshman campaign.

Sheldon Geuvens, a freshman from Eureka, has shown signs that he can compete with that group, as well.

The two arms in the bullpen that are expected to give the team the biggest lift are Mason Diederich and Garard, both of whom sat out last spring to play football. Diederich will likely be the one who gets the ball in the late innings when the game is close, and Garard could fill in anywhere from starter to middle-long relief to a closing.

"They're going to a huge addition for us," Rashid said. "I think we can go into the game into the sixth, seventh, eighth inning close, and we'll win, because of the guys we have there now."

Junior Tate Stone is another hard-throwing option in the bullpen who has some experience, along with a nice curve ball.

Others will have opportunities to contribute and gain experience, but this is what the first group up will be this weekend.

"I think we need to be consistently better than we were," Rashid said, looking back at 2021. "Defensively, we have to be better than last year. If we're not, then the season will result the same. I think we are going to be better."

Rashid has emphasized to his players that when they go down south, the teams they'll play – both in Mississippi and in Texas in March – are going to have the distinct advantage of starting the season earlier. It's going to be difficult to beat teams that are so far ahead, but the early results won't define EC's season: the conference season will.

"There's no reason we can't compete 3-through-6 (in the SLIAC)," Rashid said, "and that's what our goal is."

 "I'm very excited about prospects. I'm excited to get started."