This season was not supposed to look like this. At least from an outsider’s perspective.
Following the graduation of 12 seniors — eight of whom were everyday players — from last year’s 16-11 team, a step backwards seemed a likely scenario for the East Dubuque baseball team.
“Everyone outside of our circle certainly had us pegged down at the bottom of our conference,” Warriors head coach Brandon Tashner said.
The Warriors, instead, embraced their newly-adopted motto from the get-go.
Trust the we for the me.
“It simply means trust the team and trust yourselves and things will turn out good,” said Warriors’ senior Collin Sutter. “Trust each other and have each other’s back.”
Because of that mindset dating all the way back to winter workouts, East Dubuque is in the midst of one its best seasons in program history.
“They’ve certainly exceeded expectations, but they’re not done,” Tashner said. “They still have other goals and expectations they want to reach.”
Tuesday’s victory over Fulton clinched the Warriors’ first outright Northwest Upstate Illini Conference West Division title since 2005, and with five regular season games remaining, East Dubuque has hopes of becoming one of the only teams in school history to reach 20 wins.
“Everyone thought we were gonna be pretty bad this year,” Sutter said. “It feels pretty good to prove everyone wrong, especially in my senior year.”
Tashner said a conference-opening two-game sweep over rival Galena built the foundation for a successful season.
“I knew right away by just the way they were playing and some of their attitudes and the confidence they had that something special might be brewing,” Tashner said.
Another series sweep over perennial NUIC powerhouse Warren/Stockton — a team East Dubuque hadn’t swept since its last outright conference title in 2005 — reaffirmed that notion and began a string of eight wins in a 10 game stretch.
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“Along the way, the confidence just kept building and guys just kept playing together,” Tashner said.
The Warriors currently sit at 16-9 overall and completed their NUIC slate at 8-2. Contributions have come from up and down the lineup, and from veterans and varsity newcomers alike.
Junior Angel Reyes has a miniscule 0.87 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings and leads the team with a .429 batting average. Senior Sutter is hitting .416 and has a 2.52 ERA on the mound.
Sophomores Bradin Lee and Carver Kamentz are batting a robust .402 and .343, respectively.
“I was really excited when I saw some of those younger guys and what they were able to do at the varsity level,” Sutter said. “We all bond very well; it’s kind of a brotherhood.”
Thursday’s series-finale loss to Fulton marked the Warriors’ second conference defeat of the season. Still, having already clinched the NUIC West two days prior, East Dubuque received a glistening escort back to town.
Lights shining and sirens blaring, members of the East Dubuque Police and Fire Departments accompanied the newly-minted NUIC champs home.
“It was awesome going through town, hearing horns honking and sirens going,” Sutter said. “Just to know that everyone was there supporting us. They were some of the only people that believed in us.”
East Dubuque residents lined the streets in applause despite the team’s 10:30 p.m. weeknight arrival.
“I told our guys, ‘You’ve earned; you deserve it. These things don’t come around very often. Make sure guys enjoy this and soak it in,”’ Tashner said.
With the postseason looming, he hopes for a second parade in the near future.
“It was a lot of fun,” Tashner said. “The kids enjoyed. Hopefully we can do it again.”
