Northwest Baseball Spring League

The Northwest Spring League this year was different than any Waukee spring league in the past. With  Northwest having its first year as a baseball team, they decided to do an intrasquad spring league instead of playing other teams.

The Northwest Spring League was a competitive league with games every weekend. The league had four regular-season games and the two best teams would participate in the championship game while the two worst would participate in the consolation game. Each inning had a 15 pitch cap and if the pitcher threw 15 pitches and there were base runners on, then they go back out on base the next inning with no outs. If a pitcher reaches 15 pitches in their last inning of work and there are runners on first, second, and third, then two runs count because the runners in scoring position count as runs. This league provided loads of competition and was very good for developing players for the season.

In the Northwest Spring League, Team One won the very first league championship. Team One took a tough loss in their third game of the year to the last place finisher Team Three. They were able to bounce back and finish the season with a 4-1 record and the championship title. Senior and Team One leadoff hitter Weston Barber explained, “We make a lot of errors but we like to make up for it on the offensive side of things.” Between the two games, Team One racked up 12 errors but because their team was so elite offensively they were able to go 2-0 on championship Sunday. These two wins on April 24 would not have been possible if the bottom of the batting order hitters did not play well. Sophomore and championship MVP Tanner Philpott said, “It felt really good to help make sure that our team played really well.” This was just one example of the excitement in the Northwest Spring League.

Team Four in the Northwest Spring League may have had a rough season, but won when it mattered. Team four went 0-4 in the regular season but found a way to beat out Team Three for third place. Team Four lost two games to tTeam One, one to Team Two, and one to Team Three finding themselves as the last seed in the consolation game. Already losing to Team Three earlier in the day, Team Four was not looking at a great look to finish top three overall. But when it all mattered, Team Four showed up to play, and beat team three in the consolation game. Sophomore team four-player Saahi Jetti said, “It felt great to get a third-place because none of us wanted to get last.” The Waukee Northwest Spring League brought a ton of fun for the players and prepared them well for the season.