In Year 3 under coach Tyler Troyer, the Walled Lake Central baseball team is still chasing its first district championship since 2011.
That goal may be tougher this spring. The Vikings, who went 19-19 a year ago, have just 14 players on varsity.
Or maybe it won’t be so tough. The roster lacks depth, but the senior class has bought into Troyer’s program.
Offseason attendance has never been higher. The team has worked out together at least three mornings a week over the past year, with strong participation in four-player workouts and the weight room.
“The seniors this year have been really stepping up and taking that next step forward,” Troyer said before practice on March 23. “I feel like we’re a very connected program. We’ve got a lot of new guys, a lot of young guys, but they’ve been working really hard in the offseason. We’ve had a pretty good start until this point, and we’re eager to keep going from here.”
Their bullpen includes seniors Dylan Chestnut, Tyler Malczewski and Caden Buckley, junior Nick Shaw and sophomore Cullen Sharpe.
When they’re not on the mound, they’ll be in the field alongside seniors Jay Fuhs, Zack Kirksey and Cameron Rheling, juniors Cameron Chandler and Tyler Faurote, sophomores Carter Buckley, Justin Fenberg and Jayce Seaver and freshman Colton Sims.
“Everyone’s got a job to do,” said Chestnut, who committed to Lansing Community College after striking out 53 batters and posting a 3.00 ERA as a junior. “If you’re sitting on the bench, you’re really not sitting on the bench. You’ve got work to do to make it easier for the guys on the field. Everyone’s there for each other, picking each other up at all times.”
That starts with a year-round commitment. The Vikings aren’t just rolling the balls out in early March and hoping for the best.
They’ve been locked in since last year’s 5-4 loss to West Bloomfield in their Division 1 district opener knowing what it takes to avoid another early exit.
“Since November, it’s been three days a week, where we’d be doing our morning workouts and morning lifts together,” said senior captain Caden Buckley, an All-Lakes Valley Conference selection last season after driving in 22 runs and batting .279. “Most people start their season 2-3 months before tryouts. Ours has been the whole year, and having that headstart has been a good advantage for us. We’ve already had a 12-hour practice with lunch and breakfast together, and that’s a lot of communion.”
That level of commitment is easier to embrace given the example set by Troyer. He attends 5 a.m. workouts while also serving as an assistant coach with Northville’s football team and Novi’s boys basketball program, and teaching full-time at Novi High School.
If their coach is making that kind of sacrifice, why can’t they?
“We’ve just fully embraced the culture, even the young guys, just showing up to the workout, embracing the suck,” said Malczewski, a senior captain and three-year varsity player. “We’ve had 5 a.m. workouts all offseason, and our attendance rate was at a high, so I think all of us fully embraced and soaked in the culture that Coach Troyer is preaching to us. With our brotherhood, we’re all very close-knit, and we can use that to our advantage. We all want what’s best for each other. We’re selfless, not selfish, and that’ll be a big part of our success this year.”
The team’s leaders also stress mentoring their JV counterparts. There are 30 players in the program, and the Vikings expect to rely on the other 16 throughout the season. Injuries will happen. Slumps will come. The young guys will be needed at some point.
When both teams practice together, no one balks at freshmen working alongside seniors.
Everyone, regardless of grade or experience, is a key cog in the system. That mindset starts with the culture Troyer has built.
“I think this year is going to be a big year,” said Fuhs, a captain who missed several games with injuries last season. “With just the culture improving over the last two years, we’ve been able to lead the younger guys and teach them what our standards need to be. And our brotherhood is just so much closer than it was before. That’s definitely what’s going to propel us as the season goes on and we get into districts.”
And districts will define their success.
They want to win the Lakes Valley Conference and challenge state powers on their nonconference schedule. But they really want to snap a 15-year district drought.
It won’t be easy. Their district includes rivals Northern and Western, Milford and juggernaut White Lake Lakeland, which has dominated the LVC and districts for the past decade.
Still, the Vikings believe they can compete, even with just 14 players, many of whom will take on multiple roles.
“With only 14 guys, we’re mixing and matching and doing the best we can, but they’re buying into it,” Troyer said. “We don’t have any POs (pitchers-only). We don’t have any position players-only. We’re all bought in, with everyone basically pitching and being all hands on deck.”
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Walled Lake Central baseball chasing 1st district title since 2011
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
