Wheatland Baseball comes off of a strong 2022-2023 season ending 19-12 and 8-0 in conference play. Sadly the mules fell short of their goals with a brutal loss to Humansville in the first round of districts. Pat Dougherty, entering his 23rd year as head coach, says “There were a lot of things we could have done differently. But it all boils down to playing better defensively and scoring more runs down the stretch”

“I am excited. It is going to be a fun season. We should be competitive in every game that we play.” Says Coach Dougherty. “We have very lofty goals this season. Win our Tournament Win Conference Win Districts and make a Deep Postseason run” 

The team has 11 returning players including 6 starters. Out of those 6 starters the Mules return First Team All conference, Second Team all district Junior Andrew Murphy IF/P. “Murphy looks to be our Ace on the mound this coming off a strong sophomore season. We are expecting big things out of him at the plate, looking for him to drive in a lot of runs” Says Coach Dougherty. 

A strong season is a well deserved title for Murphy’s Sophomore year he went 5-1 on the mound with 40 2/3rds innings pitched. He faced 146 batters only allowing 25 hits and 18 runs. Out of those 18 runs only 9 of them were earned. Murphy’s ERA(Earned Run Average) was 1.55 he had 61 strikeouts and 28 runs, teams only averaged a .171 batting average. He started in 7 games and pitched 11.

The Mules also return Second Team All Conference,Second Team All District Sophomore Nathan Sawyer IF/P, Second Team All Conference Junior Braden Sawyer IF/OF/P. And Second team All Conference Junior Bradley Phillips OF/P/C.To round off the starters Junior Avery Ohrazda IF/C/P, Junior Tucker Shaddox IF/OF/P

The Mules also return Sophomore Daniel Jones OF/P, Sophomore Levi George OF/IF/P, Sophomore Gavin Corley OF, Junior Mathew Dalton OF/P/IF, and lone Senior Caleb Goodloe OF. Newcomers looking to make a big impact for the team include Freshman Lukas Gautieri OF/IF/P, Freshman Hunter Smith OF. Rounding off the team the Mules receive two transfers from Skyline Andrew and Brett Dougherty. Junior Andrew IF/P received Second Team All Mid-Lakes Conference honors as an Infielder. Sophomore Brett Dougherty C/IF/P received Second Team All Mid-Lakes Conference as a Catcher.

When asked about the season Andrew Dougherty says “I am really excited to play with a great group of guys. It is going to be a fun year, and we are expecting to win a lot of games.”

The Mules are looking to get hot and get on roll with their season kicking off at home on March 15th VS Buffalo at 5 p.m. The mules have unfinished business and that makes them dangerous.