By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
MILL CITY, Ore.- Last season was a good foundational year for the Santiam Baseball team after the return of Clint Forste as Head Coach of the program.
Their 11-win season in 2024 was the most they’ve won since 2022, and they return the bulk of that roster for this season. Led by Mason Lindemann, Brayden Gutierrez and company, the Wolverines are hoping to build upon last year
The buy-in was big in setting in the foundation, and so was the accountability points Forste entering his second season back at the helm of the program.
“Last year was all about building the foundation for this year and just getting back into the routine and getting my system in place. The kids are doing great, they’re buying in. They come in and they seem hungry and that’s a great sign, they’re getting along,” said Forste. “That was one of our biggest stressors as coaches coming into this season. We’ve been really big about, ‘hey if we’re going to say that we’re a family, then we’re going to act like one and treat each other as one’ and they’re doing a fantastic job of that.”
And despite the recent wave of wet weather, Santiam did get a good test in facing Kennedy back on Tuesday. It was the little things that cost the Wolverines in the Trojans 8-1 victory, but Forste likes to schedule hard against teams like Kennedy. He wants to show the kids the standard it takes to be one of those playoff teams like the Kennedy’s out there while seeing where they can improve upon moving forward.
“I love Moffat, me and Moffat are best friends. And when you’re building your program back up, you strive to be programs like Kennedy and the way to get the kids to see those programs is to play them,” starts Forste. “In baseball there’s so many details, but the biggest one’s for us is just being ready for every pitch. Communicating with each other every pitch.
“Right now for me, pitching and throwing strikes. That was our biggest thorn last year is our pitch counts. We would go out for two innings, we would throw 20 pitches great, but by the end of the third inning my pitcher is now at 70 pitches. So just fine-tuning that and not doing too much, just keeping it simple and just focusing on the details of the game.”
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
