April 5 marked the start of another baseball season where the boys will attempt to capture their first conference championship in 20 years and first baseball state championship since 1994.
The team believes their togetherness and leadership will be able to get them to these high aspirations.
Assistant Coach Chad Van Laanen has been a coach at Homestead for four years as well as played collegiate baseball for St. Norbert College in Green Bay. He spoke on the preparation for the year and the strengths of this team.
“The preparation has been a little different in years past because we have a very senior lead group so they’ve kind of taken over. Starting in January with open gyms seniors took those over. We’ve got a lot of guys who have put in a lot of work on their own. A lot of it has been out of the coaches control and that’s the nice thing about having a senior lead team.” Coach Van Laanen believes the advantages of the team is, “[their] athleticism and [their] leadership. Leadership is something you can’t really teach. We’re blessed with a big group of leaders. We have eight seniors and I think we could call on any one of them. We should be able to score a lot of runs this year and make good plays in the field. We should have a solid season with this group of guys for sure.”
Jackson Brewer, senior captain and Columbia University baseball commit, also felt their leadership is a huge plus.
“Our experience is our biggest strength, we have majority of our players returning seniors who have played at least one year of varsity. This will help us win games early and be successful in the playoffs.”
Griffin Bowers, another senior captain and University of St. Thomas football commit, emphasized the importance of returning players this year.
Bowers stated that team chemistry is “at the highest it’s ever been, especially in the four years I’ve been around. We’ve all been in the same grade, been playing since we were young. It’s unmatched, and I think that’s a thing that is gonna take us to where we want to be.”
Bowers also commented on their end of season goals.“Honestly, I expect a conference championship out of us, I think we can for sure do it if we play together and as a team. I definitely expect us to go to the state tournament. I know our team can be that good, so I think if we play together and as one we can for sure do it.”
Will Van Laanen, senior captain and St. Norbert College baseball commit, expanded on the expectations for the season.
“We’re setting the bar really high this year; we want to try and win the conference. We’ve come up short a couple years in a row now, and it’s been very disappointing. I would like to see us get that 2024 on the banner. I also have high expectations for playoffs. I really hope we can make it to state this year.”
Van Laanen also mentioned, “We have a different type of energy this year. Going into the season I can already feel that energy our team gives off, it’s something special and I really think it’s something fans should come out and see because I know they’ll be sorry if they missed it.”
