PELLA — The Central College baseball team is entering a new era under first-year coach Adam Carey and its versatility and experience will drive the program forward.
           
Carey, who spent the previous two years as pitching coach and has been with the program eight of the last nine years as either a player or coach, has kept it simple for his team.
           
"We've really focused on our three core values," he said. "Those values are energy, selflessness and creating an environment of excellence. Our team has done a good job of living those things out and being held accountable both on and off the field.
           
The Dutch return five starters in the field and two of its top starting pitchers.
           
"We have a lot of experience with our older players," Carey said. "The leadership they bring is really important."
 
Catcher
Juniors Dom DeLaPaz (Davenport, West HS) and Caleb Douglass (Windsor, Colo.) lead the pack at catcher with plenty of varsity experience for both. Douglass started 14 games last year and hit .245 while DeLaPaz hit .256 in 24 starts as a freshman in 2022 before injury wiped out his sophomore season.
           
"It's great to have Dom slide back in," Carey said. "Not just his bat and his ability behind the plate but his leadership as well. He's someone that our team looks to and listens to.
           
"They have totally different personalities, but Caleb is also someone that commands the field well. He's got experience in the starting lineup. We're excited to have both."
 
Infield
 The problem for Central's infield is not finding talented players but deciding on where to put them.
           
"The one word that comes to mind is versatility," Carey said. "We've got players who can play multiple spots on the infield. I'm excited to see where they end up."
           
Logan McCoy (senior, Galva, Alta-Aurelia HS) split time between center field (16 starts) and second base (18 starts) as a junior but in his senior season is on track to focus more on the middle infield. McCoy hit .338 with 27 RBI and had a team-high seven stolen bases.
           
"He could truly play shortstop, second base or center field," Carey said. "I'm excited to see where he fits best."
Newcomer Nathan Scragg (sophomore, Port Perry, Ontario, Port Perry HS) or Colton Jones (senior, Knoxville) will likely play wherever McCoy isn't between shortstop or second base. Jones hit .246 with 22 starts as a junior while Scragg was out of collegiate baseball rehabbing from an injury suffered at Dawson County Community College (Mont.).
           
"Scragg is really starting to come into his own," Carey said. "He's getting more comfortable in the box and his glove is looking good. Colton has worked hard for four years and has been an awesome person to have in the program. It's been awesome to see his growth, especially in the batter's box."
           
Fifth-year senior Declan O'Hare (Los Angeles, Calif., John Marshall HS) has flipped between third (16 starts) and first base (10 starts) when not pitching throughout his career. This year with talented sophomore third basemen Chance Dreyer (Davenport, Assumption HS) and Brayden Sawyer (Grundy Center), he figures to focus on first base more. All three of Central's top corner infielders are also key components to Central's pitching staff.
           
"Declan can make a lot of plays at first, but he's also shown his ability at third," Carey said.  "If one of them is pitching, the other two are probably playing on the corners. It's really going to come down to arm health and how they are playing and feeling."
           
O'Hare hit .282 with six home runs and 34 RBI last season as the only Dutch player to start all 39 games. Dreyer made 30 starts, hitting .234 with 13 RBI. Sawyer made just 10 starts and hit .233.
                       
Outfield
Leading the Dutch in most offensive categories, right fielder Colton DeRocher (senior, Sioux City, East HS) hit .380 with eight home runs and 38 RBI. His value to the team goes beyond his role in the No. 2 spot of the lineup or in right field.

"We've seen Colton's leadership progress well over the last three years," Carey said. "He's always bringing somebody along with him when he works out and he's made a lot of our players, especially our younger players, better because of it. He wants to work with them and not just get himself better, but also see the team win more games even when he's gone next year. His leadership is going to transcend this year into the next couple of seasons."

Max Steinlage (sophomore, Cedar Falls) didn't make his debut for Central until the 10th game of the season last year, but he broke onto the scene by hitting for the cycle. He finished the year with a .326 batting average and 13 RBI in 23 starts in center field.

"The way he played in the outfield last year, he's started to become a staple for us out in center field," Carey said.

Left field has been among the most competitive spots to fill this spring as Patrick Krapfl (junior, Ames) and Jaden Kramer (sophomore, Cedar Falls) are among the top contenders.  Krapfl started five games in left as a sophomore and Kramer made just one at-bat in his first season. Sawyer and Dreyer are also versatile enough for a role in left field.

"We're waiting to see some separation between them," Carey said. "It's all going to play itself out the right way early in the season."
 
Pitcher
The versatility of Central's roster can also be found on the pitching mound where many of Central's projected starting pitchers are also candidates to start elsewhere around the diamond.

"The first thing we think about and talk about is arm care," Carey said. "We need to make sure we're following the correct recovery process. Their practice routine is going to look different from players who are only pitchers or only field players. A lot of successful pitchers in this league have been two-way players and their athleticism has carried over to the mound."

O'Hare tossed a team-high 55.1 innings over 10 starts on the mound. He was 4-3 as a starter with a 4.23 ERA.

"I love the way he competes and his presence on the mound," Carey said. "He's got the confidence and the competence for us to know we have a chance to win when he is on the mound."

Dreyer was 3-2 in five starts as a pitcher while striking out 24 in 29.2 innings. He was shut down as a pitcher in mid-April after injuries.

"Chance is such a bulldog," Carey said. "He wants to battle and find a way to get it done on the mound. His competitive edge really stands out to me."
Steinlage made just three pitching appearances and only one after taking as the everyday centerfielder. The sophomore is prepared to return to his role on the mound.

"When he came into his own in the outfield, we understood that was the route he should focus on in his first season," Carey said. "He's put the work in during the offseason and we've seen a lot of improvement. He's always had great stuff, but it clicked more for him this year."

Mark Kenney (sophomore, Fennimore, Wis.) was on the mound for just 12 innings and two starts as a freshman but playing in multiple summer leagues over the summer and training in Pella has improved his stock.

"Mark has made so much progress," Carey said. "He's not only made great strides in his velocity, but his stuff has also gotten better, and his maturity level has really risen. He's been very intentional since the end of last season with the work that he's done, and we've seen it start to pay off."

Serving as the team's primary closer, Parker Jones (senior, Verona, Wis., Verona Area HS) notched four saves in nine total appearances. He finished with a 6.52 ERA in 9.2 innings of work.

"We're excited to see he can do as a senior," Carey said.

Wes Hamor (junior, Tama, East Marshall HS) made seven appearances out of the bullpen for Central, including a scoreless inning of relief for a conference road win at Coe.

"Wes has elite communication skills and a very high motor," Carey said. "He's done a good job locking that energy into the right spots."

Seniors Andrew Doyle (Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley HS) and Connor Susman (Corona, Calif. Hillcrest HS) are poised to breakout in 2024. Doyle has 11.0 career innings and Susman has only appeared twice but struck out 12 in relief during Central's 15-inning win over Cornell last May.

"We've seen a ton of growth out of those guys," Carey said.

Carey also cited sophomores Sawyer and Bryce Haessig (Huxley, Ballard HS) as names to watch for on the mound.
 
The season
The Dutch open the season on February 24 with a doubleheader at Greenville University (Ill.) starting at noon and play a single game against Illinois Wesleyan University on February 25. Starting the season off with 13 non-conference games away from home, Central will make its home debut on March 23 to start a three-game series with Hamline University (Minn.) in its last non-conference contests of the spring. The Dutch have seven games in Florida over spring break and have a weekend series at Cornell (March 2-3).
           
"I think it's a good thing for the group we have this year," Carey said. "I love that we're getting six games in before we go to Florida. We're going to be able to solidify some things before we start the conference season."
           
For its American Rivers Conference schedule, Central gets Buena Vista University (April 5-6), University of Dubuque (April 12-13), and Wartburg College (April 26-27). The Dutch go to Nebraska Wesleyan University (March 29-30), Simpson College (April 19-20), and Loras College (May 3-4).  They split home-and-home with Coe College (April 2 and April 9) and Luther College (April 16 and 23).