Our player’s wrapped up their spring and summer seasons. This month, our student-athletes return to campus for a new start, academically and athletically. In a sense, August marks the start of another year of Cougar baseball.
Over the summer, I culled the MaxPreps statistics of 212 current and former players and 12 teams going back to 2012. seasons. Our statistics were first entered into MaxPreps in 2012. These stats are the basis of our new EHS Cougars record book.
We don’t have records prior to 2012. We are in the same situation as every other school and most college programs. Before statistical services such as MaxPreps and Game Changer were available, statistics were buried in file folders and pre-internet computers. Almost all maintain school records, but began their school record book without many of their prior seasons.
For many of the EHS sports, individual records and team achievements are prominent in the school’s “Main Street” and gym. We now have the information to provide the same for our baseball program.
Why is this important?
Recognition
Current and former Cougar varsity players turned in some amazing individual performances over the past twelve years. Only 14 months ago, Auggie Webre (class of 2023) turned in the single best offensive performance on record. He set single-season records for batting average, slugging percentage, home runs, runs scored and hits. He had no way of knowing it at the time because we weren’t tracking our history. Griffin Gonsman, one of our returning varsity outfielders, set the school record for single-season stolen bases in 2024. Senior Cole Laursen recorded the fifth best batting average in 2024. We had no way of knowing this at the time.
Our own Coach Grise is also in the record book with his .485 batting average in 2012. Our 2024 team set the school record for stolen bases.
We’ve had some impressive team performances too. The 2012 Cougars were dominant at the plate and is the only team to have a team batting average over .400 and has the record for runs, RBI and home runs as well. With everything we do, we are focusing on doing the right thing. Compiling our statistical history is the right thing to do.
Goal Setting
Our current and future varsity players can now look at the best careers and season performances in our history. They can use our record book to set their own goals and measure themselves against the best players we’ve had. Several current players are on track to record some of the best career performances in our history. They now know that.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is the foundation for organizational strategy. From and individual and team standpoint, we can now see what is truly among the best we’ve had. Over the years, we now see the various strengths of the past twelve Cougar teams. Some relied on pitching. Others did it with hitting for contact and some did it with power hitting. Going into the 2025 season, we now have a better feel for our identity and what we can build around.
This Fall
Cougar Field will be open for optional workouts on Saturdays from 9 to 11:30 am. We’re planning on having a 16U fall team. We’ll also offer a fall-ball experience for our older players with intersquad games, repetitions and refinement more like a college format.
Our Home Run Derby is in the works. We’re building off a successful first derby last fall. It looks to have more participation and more attractions.
See you on campus soon!
Coach Krane
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