May 5, 2015

Young Wolves baseball team hitting their stride

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

While Watford City’s varsity baseball team got off to a rocky start, the Wolves are starting to show that they could very well be contenders come tournament time.
“We started out the season against three very good teams that have high hopes for returning to State again,” states Matt Heier, Wolves’ head coach. “Those three games did not go our way, but it showed our guys what it takes to compete at that level.”
But after those three games, Heier has seen the team improve as Watford City picked up a pair of wins over Ray, before splitting with Des Lacs-Burlington. The Wolves kept their winning ways alive on May 20, when they swept a pair of games from Mohall before dropping a pair of games to the Dickinson High JV squad.
Watford City then picked up a pair of regional wins as they swept New Town, 25-0 and 15-0, on May 27, to improve their record to 6-7 overall and 5-1 in regional action.
“Through the start of our region games we have played well at times, yet have also had our miscues on many opportunities,” states Heier. “The guys have been working hard in practice and recent games to improve on our mistakes as we build for the region tournament which starts on May 15.
Watford City tacked on two more wins on April 28, as the Wolves swept Stanley, 10-0 and 11-1, before splitting with Des Lacs-Burlington, 6-4 and 3-7, on May 1.
“Sitting at 5-1 in the Region through this point is a good start, but we know our one loss we let slip away,” states Heier. “Hopefully, our early season losses and missed opportunities will teach us valuable lessons moving forward down the stretch.”
According to Heier, Keegan Thompson and David Kline have been swinging the bat well, but the team needs to be more consistent at the plate, as well as more disciplined on the base paths.
“Preston Milstead, Quayde Shores, Keegan Thompson, and Bo Cook have thrown well through this point in the season,” states Heier. “We need to consistently get ahead of opposing batters and lower our walks per game as a pitching staff.”

WATFORD CITY WEATHER