Back in 2011 when Levi Webber was in his second season leading Philomath High’s baseball program, the Warriors struggled through a 10-15 campaign. But the following year, the team rebounded to a 19-6 record and qualified for the 4A playoffs.
Philomath strayed from the norm last season and finished below .500 for the first time in 12 years. But now it’s a new season and perhaps history can repeat itself with the Warriors striving for not only a winning record but a berth in the state playoffs.
In an interview before practice Monday afternoon, Webber spoke with confidence about his team’s chances this season. He mentioned several names and appears to have the type of interchangeable talent on his roster that can contribute anywhere on the field.
That includes in the field, on the mound and in the batter’s box.
“We have the majority of our lineup plus we got some new guys coming in that have shown some good things early on,” Webber said during a conversation about the offense. “We should be a team that hits for a fairly good team average and then find some doubles, maybe some triples. We’re not going to have a bunch of homers but we should be a team that hits a lot of singles, doubles.”
Team speed will factor into the team’s offensive output.
“We’re going to be really aggressive on the bases,” he said. “We’re really athletic — that’s one thing I would say, is we have a very athletic team. So when we get on the bases, we should be able to create a lot of havoc and put a ton of pressure on people.”
On the mound, Webber said he likes what he’s been seeing so far in practice. Mason Stearns, the team’s first-team all-conference shortstop from 2023, returns for his senior season with pitching among his duties.
“He’s probably the one coming back with the most varsity experience as far as innings go and he’s looked pretty good,” Webber said.
Sophomore Caleb Babcock is another returning pitcher.
“He pitched a little bit for us towards the end of the season and had some really, really good starts for us in the spring and then continued that into the summer,” Webber said. “As a sophomore, we’re really looking for him to kind of take that next step and be a real plus for us on the mound.”
Webber believes hard-throwing junior Joe Barnes has among the best stuff in the state when it comes to velocity.
“He’s always really good in the bullpen,” Webber said. “He’s been around the zone and thrown a bunch of strikes so if he’s able to carry that into the game and onto the mound between the white lines when it matters, he’s going to be a real force for us.”
Junior Logan Matthews has shown flashes as another contributor.
“He didn’t pitch a ton for us last year at the varsity level but he pitched a bunch over the summer and he looked really good,” Webber said.
Sophomore Wylie Griffith also has some experience on the mound.
“Wylie pitched a little bit for us last year at the varsity level but again, he’s another one who threw a ton for us in the summer and looks really good,” Webber said.
Junior Grant Niemann, who is healthy entering this spring unlike last year when he was still hampered from an offseason knee injury, could also be called upon to pitch. Junior Kayson Olsen will also get some innings.
“So, we’ve got five or six options that we feel really, really good about and then a couple of others that are still kind of developing but that we can use,” Webber said. “We like where we’re at on the mound so long as we can throw strikes and eliminate as many free baserunners as we can, I think we should be pretty good out there.”
Behind the plate, Webber has two strong options with Niemann and sophomore Rocco De La Rosa. Niemann is penciled in as the starter.
“Grant caught every game for us last year and with the knee being stronger this year, he’ll be able to be more of a threat throwing runners out this year … he’ll be a little bit quicker and a little bit more agile back there,” Webber said.
De La Rosa has a knack for getting rid of the baseball in a quick fashion.
“He’s got a quicker release from behind the plate than we’ve ever had in our program with getting the ball to second base,” Webber said. “So we have two really good options behind the plate and we feel comfortable with either.”
Around the infield, Webber has a lot of players capable of contributing.
“Honestly, at every single position this year, there’s a ton of competition and that only makes your team better if they go about it the right way,” Webber said. “All around the horn, there’s two of three if not four guys that are going to be competing for opportunities.
Still, Stearns comes in as a solid starter at shortstop — besides those all-league honors, he also received honorable mention on the all-state team. When Stearns is pitching, Olsen could be in the 6 hole.
“Mason, he paced our offense last year and was just really, really good for us at the dish,” Webber said. “I think he was just under .400 last year for the whole season, stole a bunch of bases and scored a bunch of runs, so he’s going to be the kind of catalyst for our offense this year in getting everything going.”
If needed, Stearns can also play third base — he saw time there as a sophomore — and even first base.
Griffith is projected to be the starting second baseman.
“He’s sure-handed, he can get to a lot of balls, a really good bat,” Webber said. “He had a couple of hits in our scrimmage on Friday. For the first time seeing live pitching, he had two doubles and swung the bat really well and played good defense.”
Olsen will also likely see time at second, especially when Griffith is pitching. Webber called him a good defender who played a lot of shortstop last summer with Stearns playing on the American Legion team in Corvallis.
“Both of them are really good defenders and they can both handle the bat,” Webber said. “So we have a couple of pretty good options there.”
First base could be the biggest question mark heading in. Junior Walker Westbrook might have the edge on starting based on his experience at the position on last season’s junior varsity team, Webber said. Also in contention for innings are junior Brady Russell, senior Kash Lindsey and freshman AJ Altishin.
Russell, De La Rosa and Lindsey are also possible starters at third base.
“We’ve got a few options and it’s going to be based on who’s competing the best and who’s giving us the best opportunity that day or that week,” Webber said. “Whoever wins that spot is going to get the playing time or the majority of it.”
In the outfield, Webber said Matthews, Babcock and Barnes are the top three.
“You’ll also see some movement with those guys because all three are pitchers,” Webber said. “There’s going to be a lot of interchangeability in our outfield. So you’ll probably see Colton Hruska out there and AJ Altishin will probably be playing some out there. Outfield’s going to be a little bit of musical chairs. It’s just kind of depending on who’s throwing on that day.”
The outfielders as a group are very athletic, the coach said.
“We should be able to run down anything that we’re supposed to out there,” Webber said.
Webber has 36 kids in the program this season.
“We’ll have three teams for the first time since I’ve been here,” said Webber, who took over in 2010. “It’s a good problem to have but it poses an issue when you have days like today when it’s rainy and you only have a couple of fields that you can use. Facility space is at a premium as it is. So we’ve been moving some things and doing some stuff to try to get as much action as we can and get the kids involved as much as possible.”
The season opens Thursday with a 4:30 p.m. home game against Junction City. The team will then play at home March 21 against Gladstone before getting in Newport Spring Break Tournament games in on March 25-26 against Dallas, St. Helens and Henley.
Other schedule highlights outside of conference play include an April 6 to the eastern end of the state for a doubleheader at La Grande — one against the host school and another against Fruitland, Idaho. A game against Santiam Christian that had originally been slated for early in the season was rescheduled for April 20.
