While they did not return to the glory land of the NJCAA Division I World Series, the Weatherford College Coyotes baseball team nonetheless had one of the best seasons in program history.
In fact, in terms of victories, they posted the second most in team history, finishing 45-15. Only the 53-11 team of 2023 that finished third in the nation did better.
The Coyotes also captured a second consecutive championship in the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference, a first for the program. In the Region V Tournament, they were 2-2, defeating New Mexico 9-1 and Grayson 5-4 before falling 5-0 to McLennan - which advanced to the World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado - and 8-6 to Midland.
“Conference champs and 45 wins is certainly a very good year. We tripped up in the regional and there is not much room for error in that tournament,” Coyotes coach Jeff Lightfoot said. “Ninety eight wins in two seasons is playing the game at a very high level. We have some momentum and expect for that to continue into next season.”
The Coyotes won regardless of the site of their game. They were 30-8 at home and 15-7 on the road and neutral sites. The 30 wins are the most ever at home.
They had win streaks of 11, 10 and nine games. At no point in the season did they lose more than two straight games, something even last season’s team couldn’t say.
The offense was explosive, topping 10 runs on 16 occasions, and the defense/pitching registered 10 shutouts, including three consecutive at one point of the season.
The season included a 30-0 win over Lamar Community College in a series in which they outscored Lamar 46-2 in two games. The 30 runs is the largest margin of victory in team history and an accomplishment few teams have managed in baseball at any level.
Also, while lopsided, the 30-0 win matched the team record for most runs by both teams in a game.
Individually, sophomore pitcher Robert Fortenberry posted a 13-0, the best in WC history, and led the nation in victories throughout the regular season. Freshman reliever Tanner Wiggins posted a team-record eight saves.
And with a roster that featured 32 freshmen and 13 sophomores, it’s easy to see why anticipation is high for continued success in 2025.
“We will have some key pieces back offensively in (Trace) Mazon, (Uriah) Walters and a few other role players,” Lightfoot said. “The rotation will be fairly new with (Evan) Brandt being the only returner, but we have an outstanding class coming and will add some high level transfers.
“We will start the road to Junction again in August.”
Coyotes baseball recap
Record: 45-15.
Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference record: 25-7, first place.
Home record: 30-8.
Road/neutral record: 15-7.
Postseason record: 2-2.
Longest win streak: 11.
Longest loss streak: 2.
Scored 10 or more runs: 16 times.
Shutouts: 10.
Times shut out: 2.
Record in 1-run games: 6-4.
Team batting average: .305.
Home runs: 30.
Team on-base percentage: .444.
Team slugging percentage: .441.
Earned run average: 3.15.
Individual leaders
Hitting
Batting average (minimum 100 at-bats): Louka Daoust, soph., .395; Kasen Wells, soph., .383; Uriah Walters, fr., .363.
On-base percentage (minimum 100 at-bats): Wells, .496; Daoust, .493; Walters, .486.
Slugging percentage (minimum 100 at-bats): Wells, .602; Dayton Tockey, soph., .594; Daoust, .581.
Runs scored: Wells, 68; Trace Mazon, fr., 51; Daoust, 48; Tockey, 48.
Hits: Wells, 77; Daoust, 68; Amazon, 64.
Doubles: Mazon, 21; Wells, 15; Daoust, 13.
Triples: Wells, 7; Tockey, 4; Daoust, 2.
Home runs: Tockey, 9; Daoust, 5; Wells, 5.
RBI: Mason, 65; Daoust, 54; Wells, 53.
Walks: Tockey, 46; Wells, 41; Kevin Duran, soph., 36.
Stolen bases: Wells, 33; Walters, 14; Daoust, 12.
Total bases: Wells, 121; Daoust, 100; Amazon, 96.
Extra-base hits: Wells, 27; Amazon, 25; Daoust, 20.
Sacrifice flies: Miguel Luevano, fr., 4; Amazon, 4; Daoust, 3; Tyler Moody, fr., 3; Kanon Sundgren, soph., 3; Wells, 3.
Hit by pitch: Duran, 9; Amazon, 8; Luevano, 7; Wells, 7.
Pitching
Wins: Robert Fortenberry, soph., 13-0 (school record); Cade Crossland, fr., 9-2; Evan Brandt, fr., 8-2.
Saves: Tanner Wiggins, fr., 8 (school record); Jack Cagianello, fr., 3; Brayden Timmins, soph., 3.
Complete games: Brandt, 2; Crossland, 2; Fortenberry, 1; Ibrahim Gonzalez, fr., 1.
Innings: Brandt, 74.2; Fortenberry, 74; Crossland, 68.1.
Strikeouts: Crossland, 100; Fortenberry, 75; Brandt, 64.
ERA (minimum 25 innings): Wiggins, 1.40; Fortenberry, 2.19; Crossland, 2.37.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here