The Warriors surged in March to kick off the Jason Shockey era at Westside High School. They opened up with the Millard West Wildcats, one of the top programs in the state, with appearances in the state championship four of the last six years, taking home the title in 3 of them.
In an interview with Manager Jason Shockey, he discussed the team’s mindset headed into the matchup.
“Millard West is good. They’re good every year, and they’ve got really good arms. And I think our mindset was just to go out and be aggressive and in all facets,” Shockey said.
Westside lit up the Wildcats pitching staff in a 9-0 shutout off the bats of senior Braeden Hosey, who drove in a run and a double on a 2-for-4 day, and junior Jacob Schliefer went 2-for-4 with a double. Senior Liam Cronican finished 1-for-1 with a pair of walks and an RBI double, and junior Andrew Tagge added a two-run double in his 1-for-3 day. The Warriors combined for 11 hits in the win.
It was a great day on the bump for Senior Ben Weiss, tossing four shutout innings on three hits with three punchouts to earn the win and move to 1-0 on the year. Junior Payton Wane and sophomore Easton Shockey capped off the shutout in a combined three innings of relief work to take home the win on the road.
“One of the things that we talk about a lot with our guys is we’re going to make mistakes as long as they’re aggressive ones. Those are ones that we’re going to be able to live with.” Shockey said.
Shockey also highlighted Ben Weiss’ performance on the mound.
Westside quickly transitioned into a game against Lincoln Northeast, led once again by Hosey with a bases-clearing triple in his 1-for-3 day. Senior Ben Everroad tallied a pair of hits and an RBI, and Tagge knocked a two-run double in his 1-for-3 day. Senior Burke Brown was dominant in 4 frames on the mound, striking out three and only allowing one hit in the 10-0 win for the Warriors.
The Warriors suffered their first loss of the year in a nail-biter with Lincoln Southwest. Westside commanded a 6-1 lead up until the Silverhawks plated 6 scoreless in the 6th and 7th to fall 7-6. Westside responded with a 9-0 win vs Papio-Lavista, a 5-3 win vs Papio-Lavista South, a 14-4 win vs Grand Island, and a two-game sweep of North Platte to improve to 7-1.
To wrap up March, Westside took a loss to Elkhorn South 1-0 but responded with a thrilling win against Shockey’s old club, Bellevue West, 15-10, to finish the month 8-2.
The key to their success has been their explosive bats, which were a major issue for them last season. This lineup has seen production from the leadoff spot to the 9-hole, even without one of their top hitters and arms in junior Markus Chandler who will miss the season with a torn UCL. Though it’s still early in the year, the Warriors look night and day at the plate compared to last season, having not a single player with a .300 batting average. However, in the first handful of games, they have five (minimum 20 plate appearances) in junior Jacob Schleifer (.429), sophomore Duncan Hansen (.417), senior Braeden Hosey (.417), junior C.J. Shockey (.394), and senior Ben Everroad (.333).
Shockey talked about what his lineup brings to the plate.
“The nice thing about our lineup is that we’ve got 12 to 14 guys we can plug in, and most of them are very athletic. That allows us to get on base, steal, bunt, hit-and-run, and do a lot of different things. It really gets our energy going,” Shockey said. “We focus on taking what the pitcher gives us instead of trying to do too much, and for the most part, our guys have done a really good job.”
It’s too early to fully evaluate the lineup, but from what we’ve seen so far, Westside is quickly turning into a threat for all pitching staffs across the state. In just one month under coach Shockey, they have looked like a completely different team at the plate.
In addition to the bats, the pitching staff has shown the potential to compete with any lineup they face. Weiss has picked up where he left off from last year in his ace role, sitting at 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three appearances. Brown has filled the two spots in the rotation well with two wins in his three appearances, but his ERA took a hit against the Thunderbirds, moving to 4.20. He was lights out in his other games. Sophomore Easton Shockey leads in ERA with 1.17 as a primary step man and backend rotation guy, along with Sophomore Brody Cook with a 1.62 ERA. Payton Wane has emerged as the primary bullpen arm with a team-leading 3 saves, 18 strikeouts, and holds a 3.23 ERA in six appearances.
The arms haven’t wowed so far, but it has been impressive how they have adjusted to the loss of Chandler on the mound. His absence will be missed, but from what we have seen, it has really been the next man up, and it has shown through the first few weeks of play with the amount of depth they bring on the mound with guys like Wane, Shockey, Frederick, and others.
“We might not have that one top-end arm from a velocity standpoint, but we have a lot of really good pitchers who can mix their pitches, keep hitters off balance, and compete. That’s been a big strength for us.” Shockey said. “We’ve been fortunate with our depth on the mound. Being able to run a new guy out there every couple of innings and still get quality outs is exactly what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Shockey has already flipped a switch not only on the field but also in the culture, and you can feel it around the program. They have built a winning culture in just a few short months, and the boys are playing with some swagger as they head into a busy April ahead of them. If we are seeing this level of progression so early in the Shockey era, just imagine what this program will look like, not just the rest of this season but for years to come.
