Newton’s Ian Baker was a second team all-league first baseman last year, and he was excited to see where this season took him and his team. Returning many players, Baker was ready for revenge after a tough loss to end last year’s season.
“Last year we had a great team that went pretty far and finished with a hard loss against the eventual state champions Bishop Carroll. “We had 10 seniors this year with six of them being returning starters. We had high hopes for this season knowing the talent that we had. Although we had every tool we needed to do well this season we were unable to put the pieces together.”
While everything didn’t go as planned for Newton last season, Baker’s only goal was to help his team have fun and make it to the postseason.
“My goals for this season were all team oriented,” Baker said. “We had a heartbreaking loss the year prior so my goal was to go to state this year.”
The bitterness of ending last season on a loss didn’t last long when Baker and the Railroaders won a thriller to kick off the season.
“My favorite memory from the season has to be beating Dodge City in the home opener,” Baker said.
Although the season is over, Baker’s baseball career is just beginning. “Future plans after high school are to continue my academic and athletic career at McPherson College where I’ll be studying digital media and film and playing baseball,” Baker said.
