Westside Baseball’s Hitting Showcasing Their Start to 2022 Season

Grace Vandercoy and Jordan Nogg|April 6, 2022

Zoe Gillespie

Senior Dalton Bargo (left) laces a double down the left field line against Creighton Prep. Bargo would go 2-3 on the night and currently leads Class A in batting average.

Westside varsity baseball team has started off the season strong with a 7-4 record through 11 games, 10 of which against teams with a record of .500 or better.

Following an opening night loss 3-1 to Millard South, the Warriors put together a six-game winning streak spanning the next week. This streak would end with a 7-3 loss to rivals Creighton Pre which would lead to a three-game slide. The Warriors got back in the win column with a thriller against the Columbus Discoverers and Coastal Carolina commit, Tadan Bell. After being no-hit through five innings, the Warriors tied the game at two in the bottom of the sixth before walking it off in extra innings.

Westside’s lineup has been great down the stretch under pressure, tallying three walkoffs already this campaign. Head Coach Otis Seals thinks that better defense and base running will translate to more wins.

“We need to continue to improve each day,” Seals said. “Our defense and baserunning are the two areas that we probably need to focus a little more on throughout the year.  Our pitchers and hitters have been doing a great job of keeping us in games and helping us to win.”

Sophomore outfielder Nick Anglim has been receiving national attention, dating all the way back to last summer. He’s listed as a top-300 prospect in the 2024 class, and the 3rd ranked 2024 in the state of Nebraska and was a 2024 Perfect Game All-American over the summer. Anglim currently has seen interest from colleges such as Duke, Creighton, Penn State, Illinois and Michigan. Anglim started the 2022 campaign slowly, but has worked his average up to a respectable .257 with three stolen bases.

“I started off the year slow at the plate,” Anglim said. “I found myself trying to do too much and getting too long with my swing. I found success against Lincoln Northeast. I was 3-4 with a triple and a homerun.”

The sophomore feels the team was battle tested with Millard South and then cleaned up some simple fundamentals to string together their following sixth-game winning streak.

“We started right off the bat with a good Millard South team,” Anglim said. “But then we started putting together more quality at-bats and cleaned up fielding.”

The Warriors will take on Class B’s number-one team in the Norris Titans tonight at 5 p.m. before starting the Frank Ryan Invitational at Millard West this weekend. Watch the game live on our website and on Warrior Television.