By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com
CANTON – It was a season to forget in 2021 for the Canton/Galva baseball program as they started out 2-2 before calling off the remainder of the season due to a lack of players.
For 2022, the Eagles get the opportunity to hit the reset button as they get a new head coach in Seth Moddelmog, and several new players with a new co-op with Elyria Christian School.
Moddelmog will take over the leadership of the program after spending the past three seasons assisting Heath Gerstner at McPherson. Assisting the new coach in rebuilding the Eagle program will be Taylor Myers and Kolby Moddelmog.
“I know the Eagles did not finish the 2021 season due to not having enough players,” explained Coach Moddelmog. “We are hitting the reset button and starting over and with Elyria Christian players joining us in the new co-op arrangement, added to the Eagles coming back – we feel we are in a good spot to get things turned around despite being raw and inexperienced in many ways.”
Moddelmog continued by saying, “We are going to get tested throughout the season, no question about that. With Little River, Sedgwick, and Inman on the schedule, we will have our work cut out for us. But if we work hard and the guys buy into what we are going, I feel like we can be a team to look out for.”
The Eagles will be counting on four returnees for leadership roles, with those being senior utility player, Xavier Westbrook, plus three junior infielders/pitchers with Garrett Maltbie, Braison Alcala, and Ryder Norstrom.
Moddelmog is excited about the abilities of four Elyria players joining the program in senior Ben Unruh, junior John Burrill, sophomore Ross Burrill, and freshman Andrew Huxman.
Moddelmog concluded his pre-season reflections by adding, “It is a new brand of baseball and attitude towards the game itself. The coaching staff and I look forward in working with these kids to not only get better at the game of baseball, but to start building a good program for years to come.”
The Eagle baseball team will open their 2022 season on Friday, March 25 hosting Lindsborg Home School before going on the road on Tuesday, March 29 to Remington and Thursday, March 31 to Little River.
(William is a free-lance writer covering McPherson County Activities – he can be reached at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)