After several crucial seniors graduated last May, Normal West baseball is preparing to come out strong in their first game on Wednesday, March 13 at Rochester High School.

Although they lost multiple starting players, Normal West has a solid base of seniors to lead the team through this season.

Blake Crancer, Sam Descarpentrie, and Trent Durham are all returning from their 1st Team All Big 12 mentions from last season.

Along with these three seniors, Black Hawk CC commit Taylor Hafermann, North Central College commit Bradyn Whitehead, and Elmhurst College commit Sam Beirne return to make big strides against this year’s schedule.

“Last season we battled a lot of injuries and struggles but we are stronger and plan to get back on track this year, Senior North Central Commit Bradyn Whitehead shared.

The baseball team is looking forward to their annual spring break trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama where they will face a tough lineup of out-of-state opponents.

The Wildcats will return to Illinois and head into a full schedule of big games against intercity and area opponents including Normal Community, Bloomington High School, Champaign Central, and more.