Bulldog baseball opens with a win

Coach Smith gives a season preview

The 2018 OHS baseball squad is senior dominated with nine of Coach Dick Smith’s 31 players in their final season as Bulldogs.

“What’s nice about having nine seniors is it’s much easier to run a team,” says Smith who has been leading the Ogden team since 1980. “We have nine really good senior leaders. I appreciate them and am lucky to have a good senior core willing to come back after graduation.”

Coach Smith feels they are very good defensively this year and have a good pitching staff led by Carter Church and Jacob Craven. In last Tuesday night’s game against Woodward-Granger. “Carter pitched a heck of a game in the 1-0 win, striking out 13 batters. Jacob came in for the save.

“Our weakest point is hitting, but we will get better. What’s really nice is all our kids have a good baseball sense.”

The number of players allows Smith to split ninth and tenth grade into a JV Blue and JV White team - the 9/10 group as he calls them. With five “freshmen” double headers on the schedule, Smith says they all should get some playing time.

Last year the Bulldogs finished the season one game below 500. This year’s varsity schedule is made up of 33 games. According to regulations, teams are allowed a maximum of 40 games in the regular season. Ogden won its opener against Woodward-Granger then dropped a pair of games against Ballard and Van Meter. Humboldt was in town Friday (after presstime).

Van Meter and Des Moines Christian Smith feels are the two strongest teams in the conference. He is hoping the Bulldogs are in the mix.

Next season the conference will be adding Pleasantville and I-35.

Smith is assisted by Chad Reutter and Scott Church.

 

 

by DAVE PFALTZGRAFF

OGDEN REPORTER SPORTS

 

Ogden vs. Woodward-Granger

The Bulldogs rode the arm of Carter Church for a 1-0 win over Woodward-Granger Tuesday, May 22 to open the season. Church struck out 13 batters while issuing only two free passes and surrendering only 4 hits. 

Ogden scored the lone run in the fourth when Jade Thompson led the inning off with a free pass. Kayden Kruse’s sacrifice bunt moved Thompson to second and the runner scored on a base hit by Church. 

Dick Smith said Church performed very well on the mound and the defense played very well in pressure situations. 

Read more in the May 30 issue of The Ogden Reporter.

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