The 2022 Sherburne-Earlville Marauders baseball team (Photo by Morgan Golliver)

SHERBURNE – Coach Jay Tackabury and the Sherburne-Earlville baseball team look back on its 2022 season.

Every team’s goal of course is to make it to sectionals. S-E made its Section III Class B playoffs last season but struggled to do so this year.

“We were pretty optimistic at the beginning of the season. First and foremost, I wanted the 10 seniors to make sectionals, but we had a bigger goal in mind than how we finished,” Tackabury said.

As mentioned, Sherburne-Earlville loses its ten seniors who filled every position on the team this season, alongside juniors Espn Anderson and Jackson Bush.

Ben Menard, Ethan Kober, Taylor Grzymkowski, Preston Eaves, Garrett Fleming, Blaine Blinebry, Derick Miller, Nick McDaniel, Mytchell Stowell, and Mason Goedel all graduate this year, leaving S-E a very young team next year.

Coach Tackabury thanks them for all their hard work and dedication to the program.

“ They were good teammates and played the game the right way with great sportsmanship. Everyone knew what was expected of them and never responded negatively, even when opponents did,” he said.

Anderson and Bush are expected to return for their senior year. Anderson earned some playing time at second base and at shortstop but Tackabury said he will move primarily to shortstop with the loss of Menard. Bush was moved to the outfield, where it wasn’t his strongest spot, but he will be back in the infield next season and more comfortable.

Menard led the Marauders with a .265 batting average with 13 hits, including four doubles and a triple, and stole two bases. Grzymkowski finished behind him with a .256 batting average with 11 hits, two stolen bases, and scored a team-high of five runs on the season.

For pitching, Nick McDaniel struck out 44 batters with a 5.14 ERA in 42 innings while Menard finished with a 5.58 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 24.2 innings. Derick Miller also saw 15 innings on the mound with 11 strikeouts.

In the offseason, S-E will be moving up players from the JV team, which includes five juniors. Over the summer, the team will be participating in the Pony League with fellow JV coach Brian Hicks. The Pony League consists of 13-16 year olds where everyone can play and it doesn’t matter what team you’re on. Other areas like Norwich and Unatego also have teams that S-E could compete against.

Tackabury appreciates the Pony League as it is a way for his players to earn more playing time.

“ Our guys need to play, get experience, and be in those situations. It really hurt us not having a Pony League for the last five years,” he said. “It will benefit us a lot. We will be seeing other players that we’re going to compete against and see where they are skill-wise compared to us.”

The Sherburne-Earlville baseball team is confident in its next season’s group of players who are ready to work hard this offseason to prove themselves.