RITZVILLE – With a solid core of returning players, the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos are heading into 2023 with a strong sense of team chemistry.

“Same as any other sport, if you know the guys you’re playing with you get in this rhythm of playing with each other,” Senior Cooper Miller said. “Makes it a lot easier, you play a lot better. Makes it more sound.”

Along with 10 returning players, the Broncos also picked up some incoming freshmen and a few athletes that switched over from competing in track and field.

“We’ve got a few seniors, and the ones that were here last year are excited to come back and play,” Head Coach Jason Hilzer said. “We’ve got 10 guys back that have played before, then we’ve got some freshmen and some kids that haven’t played, maybe did track before and turned out for baseball. Pretty good athletes.”

The Broncos’ top pitcher from last year, Owen Telecky, graduated in 2022 and is now pitching at Dordt University in Iowa, so the bearing on the mound will fall to senior Chase Galbreath and sophomore Jayce Kelly, who both had experience on the mound last season.

“Those two will pitch a lot,” Hilzer said. “We’re working on Brody Boness – didn’t pitch a lot last year, but he’s got a lot of potential. Brock Kinch is another one, took track and how he’s playing baseball. He’s got a lot of potential. Talus O’Brien, I’ve pitched him a little bit in practice. He pitched at Connell when we went to the jamboree, he did really well. Another kid that I’ll count on to pitch a lot.”

Hilzer said managing the Bronco pitching staff has been made easier by the athleticism of many on the team and their fluidity around the diamond.

“The good thing about it is every one of these kids, for the most part, we can move in any position,” Hilzer said. “It gives me a lot of flexibility as a coach to move kids around and not feel like we’re losing a lot by moving somebody into a different position. I’m really excited about this.”

One of the things that stood out to Hilzer at the team’s jamboree at Connell was their ability to make contact with the ball.

“I was really surprised with the way we made contact, we didn’t strike out a lot,” Hilzer said. “To me, that was pretty impressive because in the past we could put the ball in play a little bit, but we struck out a lot. It makes it nice that a lot of these kids have seen this, been in the varsity and now we’re making contact and putting the ball in play. With the speed that our team has, that’s all we need to do.”

Miller sees the potential in the younger talent that has turned out for baseball this year, as well as the performance at the team’s jamboree in Connell, as a credence for success to come.

“I’m excited, I think it’s going to be a better year than expected,” Miller said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in us.”

LRS ended the 2022 regular season with an 8-12 record, falling in the first round of the Northeast 2B District Tournament. Senior Chase Galbreath said the Broncos are aiming higher in 2023.

“We’re ready to improve off what we had last year,” Galbreath said. “We finished the season strong last year, and hopefully we can keep going with that.”

Ian Bivona can be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.