If Caldwell County doesn’t get a lot of preseason publicity, that’s OK.
The Tigers were a bit of an afterthought last year as well, before winning the 7th District championship for the eighth time in the last nine tournaments (the baseball season was wiped out by COVID-19 in 2020).
Caldwell gave Crittenden County a battle before bowing 9-7 in the first round of the 2nd Region tournament to finish the 2021 season at 13-13.
The Tigers are in a similar spot again this season. They aren’t rated among the top teams in the region, but they should challenge Madisonville-North Hopkins again for district supremacy and could be a team that’s not fun to face in the postseason.
Caldwell returns its top two starting pitchers, who figure to give the Tigers a chance in most games.
Deontaye Walls took advantage of an extra senior season because of COVID. He made 13 appearances last season with nine starts while going 5-6 with a 3.99 earned run average. His 61.1 innings were over 23 more than anyone else on the squad, and the left-hander figures to be the workhorse on the mound again this year.
Junior righty Ben Goodaker is back as well after going 5-2 with a 2.95 ERA in 2021. He made eight starts last season, throwing 38 innings.
Walls and Goodaker figure to get most of the work on the mound. Senior Logan Smiley appears to be next in line. Junior Brady Holeman, sophomore Cole Slone and eighth grader Scott Cortner could all pitch as well.
Offensively, the Tigers have to replace the school’s all-time home run leader in Tate VanHooser, who is now at Rend Lake College. VanHooser slammed 15 homers in a Caldwell uniform.
With VanHooser’s big bat gone, look for the Tigers to become more of a contact team that uses its speed on the bases to create more scoring opportunities.
Sophomore outfielder Carter Whittington returns to the starting lineup after batting .508 last season, with 30 base hits in 59 at-bats.
Walls and Smiley will also be key players offensively.
Walls, who will play first base when not pitching, hit .395 last season with a home run and 16 runs batted in. (Goodaker likely plays first when Walls toes the rubber.)
Smiley, who figures to start at shortstop, was a .366 hitter a year ago with three homers and 19 RBIs. He also led the team with 16 stolen bases.
Outfielder Brady Holeman hit .324 and drove in 18 in 2021.
Juniors Matthew Blackburn, Jamus Carneyhan and Collin Teutsch will vie for playing time in the outfield along with freshman Luke Parker.
Hunter Newsom, another junior, started at catcher last season and hit .276 with a home run. He could also see action in the field this season.
Senior Gabe Dyer will start on the infield.
Freshman Collin Whittington figures to start on the infield but is still battling an ankle injury suffered during basketball. Slone could also see time at an infield spot.
Caldwell will open the 2022 season with a trip to University Heights Academy on Monday before playing at home for the first time on Tuesday against Union County.
Caldwell head coach Jimmy Dyer appeared on The Sideline Report on WPKY Radio last week and discussed the Tigers’ upcoming season.
