The Eagle High varsity baseball team is having an exceptional first half of their season. Unlike some of the past years of Eagle High varsity baseball, the Mustangs are gaining respect. They started the season with 18 wins, and two losses. Their one loss came from their spring break tournament in Arizona where they placed second, losing in the championship. This year’s team is off to a different start than any of the recent years of Eagle High baseball.
“I think last year’s team, our hearts were there. And now, we have heart and attitude. Those are two things that you can’t teach,” said senior catcher Jimmy Flynn. “All in all, this year we all have one goal, the same goal. That is to win a state championship.”
This year’s team also has a new head coach. Head coach Scott Deck has taken over the Mustangs and has made an immediate and noticeable impact. Last year’s team finished 18-9-1 placing sixth in the state. While that is still a successful season, this year’s team under coach Scott Deck is ranked first in the state according to Max Preps. However, they are only halfway through the season.
“One of the main differences this year compared to teams in the past is the comradery within the team,” said senior infielder and pitcher Bryson Shea. “Previous years have had talent just like this year’s team, but the comradery on this year’s team sets us apart. The guys get alone and like being around each other.”
The stats for this year’s team reflect their winning record. The Mustangs have scored 166 runs and have given up only 39. On average, the team gives less than two and a half runs a game.
One of the highlights of this year’s season so far is beating the two-time defending state championships, Owyhee High, not only one time, but twice in the same week. Owyhee High is a new high school as this is only their third year of existence. Up until this year, Eagle High baseball has not had to much success against them. In 2023, Owyhee high took down Eagle High by scores of nine to four and 11 to five. This year, both games were fairly even fights the whole way through the game, but Eagle High got away with the win both times. The first game ended with a score of three to one. The second game had a crazy ending with a walk off from Flynn in the bottom of the seventh inning. The final score was six to five.
“It felt amazing. However, being a two-time state champion does not mean anything to us anymore. This is a new season,” Flynn said. “We have always lost to them. Last year we went 0-2 against them but this year we are 2-0. At the end of the day, we played our brand of baseball and our nine was better than their nine.”
There is still a lot of work to be done this season for the Mustangs to be satisfied with their efforts. They want it all. They have a common goal in mind. They have shown that they have all the tools and pieces to accomplish their goal, now they need to keep their momentum going throughout the rest of the season.
“My expectation for our team is that we should win state, but we are going to need to put in more work to do that. I am excited to see how far we can go,” Shea said.
The district tournament playoffs are the first and second week of May and the state tournament playoffs are May 16-18.
