Bureau Valley baseball running it back in 2025

MANLIUS - The baseball team that Bureau Valley will put on the field in 2025 is going to be near the same team it had in 2024.

The Storm are going to run it back from last year’s 11-16 team with eight returning starters around the diamond, headlined by three all-conference players in seniors Elijah Endress and Bryce Helms and junior Logan Philhower, and the pitching responsible for every inning thrown last year.

“We’ve had a great start to practice. We are really running back the group from last year for the most part. We lost three guys and we gained two so the bulk of our varsity group is unchanged,” said Ryan Schisler, who enters his eighth year as the Storm coach.

“It’s a nice group of guys that were motivated to put in the work in the offseason and I think we learned a lot as a group last year from the highs and lows, so if we can learn from our mistakes and play a more aggressive brand of baseball this season this will be a pretty dangerous team.”

There will be one big change for the Storm this year as they move to the Lincoln Trail Conference after leaving the Three Rivers Conference.

“The move to the LTC definitely brings with it some changes,” Schisler said. “For one, we go to conference doubleheaders on the weekends, which will be a little different for us just from how we try to manage the pitch counts over the course of each week. We’ve got a plan for that I’m happy with and having a veteran group makes that first go around a little easier.

“As far as the competition, we know there is some great baseball within the LTC on both sides of the conference, so I’m definitely looking forward to that. We have played most of the eastern half of the conference for years, but we are coming into Mercer County’s schedule this year on the western half, so we aren’t too familiar with the teams there. I think that’s exciting as that allows us to set any history aside and just focus on playing our best baseball each day.”

The Storm went 2-3 against Lincoln Trail teams a year ago in nonconference play.

Endress, Helms and Philhower are all playing their third varsity season. Endress led the Storm at the dish with a .438 average, 21 RBIs, 17 runs and 21 steals. Helms led the staff last year with a 4-2 record and 1.90 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 55.1 innings. Endress contributed a 3-3 record and 2.39 ERA on the mound with Philhower batting. 286 with five doubles, 19 RBIs and 12 steals.

Other returning starters are seniors Brock Rediger (IF/P), Landon Smith (IF) and Landen Birdsley (IF/OF), whose .304 average was second highest on the team last year, and sophomores Drake Taylor (IF) and Blake Foster (IF/P). All but Smith pitched in on the mound last year.

Rounding out the 11-man roster are seniors Collin Stabler (IF/P) and Bracin Patnoe (OF) and junior Tyce Barkman (C/OF).

The Storm will open the season on March 19 at home against Princeville, the first of five games on the home stand.