Meadowbrook Baseball Is Ready For 2023
Zanesville, OH-
Baseball is back at Meadowbrook High school in Byesville, Ohio. Last year’s team that was district runner up is no more. A new group of Colts are ready for the 2023 season and the new year. Head coach Sam Fondriest enters his 4th year and he told us about the new challenge.
“Get better every day. Show signs of improvement, you know, keep taking a step up the further we go in the season and try to win some games along the way.”
The Colts are trying to win games after losing 8 seniors from last year’s team. With a new group, it is two-time, first-team, MVL Shortstop, Easton Eibel drawing all the attention as the leader.
“That’s the goal. I am going to do what I can on the field to help us win games and try to be that voice in the dugout when it’s needed,” Eibel stated.
His coach knows what kind of leader he is.
“Easton’s a great player, one of the best players in this area offensively and defensively. I think a lot of the younger guys are going to rely on Easton to show them the ropes of varsity baseball,” Fondriest said.
As the Colts start this season, eight seniors down and seven new starters, don’t tell them they can’t go as far as they did last year. This team believes they can go even further than district runner-up. In the MLB, the Cleveland Guardians, right here in Ohio, were the youngest team in the league last year and they were one win away from the ALCS. Don’t tell this Colts squad that youth and new players means no victories.
“It’s always a district championship,” Eibel stated.
“Oh definitely a winning season, and district champs,” center fielder/pitcher Tye Griffith said.
To get there, this Colts team needs to build chemistry that Eibel explained to us.
“Just learning how to play with each other and mesh as a group because, I mean, as well as I know some of these kids, we’ve only got to play together a few times throughout the last three years. Just a mesh, we just have to work on getting to know each other a lot better on the field.”
Senior Tye Griffith is ready to help anyway he can.
“Everytime they ask me to pitch, I’m going to try my best and throw strikes and just compete,” Griffith said.
Led by Griffith and Eibel, the Colts begin their season on Monday, and the road to a district championship begins.
