First in a series profiling high-school seniors whose quests were placed on hold in recent weeks by the coronavirus pandemic. Today, the four seniors on the Lewiston High baseball team.

Lewiston High’s baseball seniors still felt like they had a lot to prove.

The Bengals, coming off a third straight district title, graduated eight from their 13-9 roster, and entered 2020 with just 13 in the dugout — several of them underclassmen.

“The general attitude of our league opponents, and probably anyone who follows Lewiston baseball, was that we were gonna have a rebuilding year,” Bengals coach Davey Steele said. “But filling out that lineup card was a lot of fun. They could hit and were good defensively.

“I think we were gonna be the darkhorse. No one really expected us to do much with how young we are. We could’ve surprised a lot of people.”

The Bengals played one game — a 7-4 no-hitter victory against Moscow on March 11 at Church Field — before prep sports across the country were shut down amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. It has left their four seniors waiting, hoping they might get on the field later this year for one last shot at State, where Lewiston went 0-2 last season.

“It happened in the blink of an eye,” Steele said. “We’re 1-0, thinking, ‘How good can we be?’ Then next thing you know, we can’t even meet.”

Seniors Dalton Hart, Trayton Skinner, Dawson Bonfield, and DJ Ricard — working through a labrum injury — were prepared to guide Lewiston’s growth, and lead it to a Districts four-peat.

“We’d had trouble becoming a team. People were playing as individuals, and that killed us at State,” senior ace and strong-armed outfielder Hart said. Most of the team has been split in offseasons between American Legion and travel-ball clubs. “We did a few things to create a bond (like trading practice for team bowling one day). We’ve become closer as a team.”

Hart boasted a 0.97 ERA with 17 strikeouts and 24 hits in 21ž frames last season. He was refining his changeup, and already had a curveball and a trusty fastball in his pocket. Steele was looking forward to getting Hart some extra outfield reps, “to cut down some people at home, because he has the arm to do it.”

“He looked sharp pitching (two innings in Game 1), and getting him to play some outfield, that was something we were excited about,” Steele said.

Hart, who went 2-for-3 in the season opener, is verbally committed to Columbia Basin College. Bonfield is another with collegiate potential. Steele said the three-year starter at first base “would’ve lit it up this year. He would’ve had quite the season.”

Bonfield batted .355 (22-for-62) with 16 RBI, 11 walks and five doubles in 2019.

“He would’ve put several over the wall, even at Church Field, (which is 375 feet to center),” Steele said. “He’ll get to keep playing, I’m just bummed he didn’t get that opportunity. He’d have had some all-league honors, and if we made it to State, he could’ve made a splash down there.”

Skinner, a first-team All-5A Inland Empire League outfielder in his breakout junior campaign, worked tirelessly in his sophomore offseason — setting up open gyms and grinding in Legion ball with the Lewis-Clark Twins — to earn his varsity spot. He moved from the ninth batter to the 2-hole quickly, and Steele was consistently impressed with his ability to produce, despite a funky approach.

“He’s a fun one. I’ve told him he doesn’t pass the eye test, because he just does everything a little different,” said Steele, who also looked to supplement a thin pitching roster with Skinner. “But then he just goes 3-for-4. He bought into that he’s not gonna hit one over the fence, so he said ‘What can I do to get on-base?’ He just finds ways.”

Skinner led the league last season with a .414 (24-for-58) average, including 17 RBI, 15 runs scored and 12 walks.

“I just got my opportunities, kinda broke out, and my confidence continued to grow. I was ready to prove myself,” said Skinner, who’s in contact with “a couple of juco coaches.”

“I’d really like to go play somewhere. … It did probably hurt me a bit, not having a senior season.”

Ricard, an outfielder/pitcher and the older brother of freshman pitcher Christopher, tore his labrum in the fall. He had a slight chance to return late in the year. Steele was looking at using him as a baserunner and designated hitter until he was healthy enough to play outfield — “He can run like a deer,” Steele said. And Steele was anticipating watching the brother-brother dynamic unfold.

“He’s come a long way,” Steele said. “He was just awesome for us in the time we had him. He kinda accepted the, ‘I’ll do whatever I can’ role. He bought into it.”

In 13 games in 2019, Ricard batted .353 (6-for-17) with four RBI, a double, a triple, and eight runs scored.

School is tentatively set to resume April 21, but that doesn’t mean spring sports seasons will. For the Bengals’ four seniors, all that can be done is wait, train individually, and hope they’ll get a crack at finishing a condensed season, and helping pull together a young team that shows promise.

“I thought we reloaded pretty well,” Skinner said. “There’s a lot of talent down here, and sometimes people don’t see it.”

Clark may be reached at cclark@lmtribune.com, on Twitter @ClarkTrib or by phone at (208) 848-2260.