Austin Welchert spent his senior season as a three-sport athlete.
The Fort Calhoun Pioneer played football in the fall, basketball during the winter months and baseball this spring. He said Thursday night at Buffalo Park in Springfield that he'd rededicated himself to baseball and unlocked a fire inside.
“I found a new desire to win in it,” Welchert said after FCHS' season-ending Class C Subdistrict 5 loss to Omaha Roncalli. “This sucks, so I want to do a lot more winning this summer.”
Before the American Legion season, though, coach Roy Prauner's Pioneers (7-16 overall) played even with the Crimson Pride for four innings Thursday. Roncalli kept Calhoun scoreless, but pitcher Declyn Otte and his fielders kept the Pride from crossing home plate, too.
“We were feeling pretty good,” senior Sam Halford said. “It was a close game, getting a little chippy there in some parts.”
The Omaha ballclub was closest to scoring early, but FCHS catcher Chase Premer was able to end a rundown with a tag at the plate during the fourth frame.
“It was just back-and-forth, and they were talking and we were talking,” Pioneers senior Avery Quinlan said.
Halford then earned a spot on base to start the fifth inning. Kenny Wellwood did, too, but his senior teammate was thrown out at third.
Quinlan later drew a free base, too, before the inning ended on the a strikeout. Three Pioneers made it on base during the top half of the frame, but zero scored.
Roncalli, however, scored their base runners during the bottom of the fifth.
“They got a couple of bunts down and just started rolling after that,” Halford said.
The Pride scored four runs then before adding six in the sixth frame for a 10-0, run-rule victory. Their stat book showed zero hits for the Pioneers, while Blair native Grant Ryan — a Roncalli senior — was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
While its opponent advanced to the district final, FCHS ended the spring with seven wins and 16 losses. Quinlan anticipates more success for the Pioneers in the future — from Legion ball to the next spring's season — with all of the contributing underclassmen they'll have back.
“I'm just excited to see them kick butt,” he said. “They're really on top of stuff for their age. Just great athletes.”
The future is now, though, for Halford and the rest of the expected Post 348 Legion lineup.
“I think we got a lot better, and I'm just ready for summer to start,” he said at Buffalo Park.
FCHS BASEBALL LINE SCORE
Thursday at Springfield
Omaha Roncalli 10, Fort Calhoun 0, 6 inn.
FCHS (7-16) 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 5
RON (9-10) 0 0 0 0 4 6 — 10 8 4
