By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

STAYTON, Ore.–  This year might be shaping up to be one of those breakout years for Regis’ Max Eaton.  The pitcher/infielder has gathered the tools to be a major contributor for the Rams this Spring, picking up leadership traits from those around him like Byron Bishop and Tanner Manning.  All the while picking up reps over the Summer with the American Legion Single-A Silverton Bandits and Triple-A Canyon Crushers 

Using those lessons from the last year years of Varsity and Legion Ball and to hopefully make the most of this upcoming opportunity in front of him this year.

“Just learning a sense of leadership and continuing to grow that going into my junior season.  Being an upperclassmen on the team and having the previous upperclassmen being good upperclassmen to look up to in just being a good example for the underclassmen this year in the program,” starts Eaton.  “(This past Summer) has really helped me open my eyes to everything that’s out there and knowing that you have to bear down and stick through it when adversity hits you.  You’re not always going to be the dog out there and when you’re not, you have to be able to bear down and roll with the punches.

“This junior year is going to be a big year and just keep that train going into senior year.  Working hard and bringing the guys up, teaching them what Regis baseball is about.  A winning culture.”

This past Spring has left a nasty taste in their mouths for those returning into this Spring.  Sure they reached the Quarterfinals of the 2A/1A State Playoffs, but they felt like they could’ve gone further.  Eaton is joined by Kollin Schumacher, Noah Koenig, Isaiah Koehnke, Luke Castiilo, Cody Ditter to name a few of the returners.  Mix into the mix Haden Gough from Jefferson and the Rams have themselves a good little ballclub entering their first game of the year against Kennedy on Monday.  A good opening challenge to start the season considering how tough their league will be with Monroe and Blanchet Catholic in the 2A/1A Special District 3 conference.

“This league is going to be tough.  It’s going to be a gauntlet, we got a lot of good teams and we got several good athletes on our team.  Several baseball players  that know the game, they have the baseball mind and I think between the core group of players, we’ll be able to piece together a pretty good lineup,” Eaton said.  “Coming up short and ending our season at Knappa at the Quarterfinals  left a bad taste  in all of our mouths and gave us some fire for this year to know that we know what’s out there and we’re capable of playing up to that level.  I think that lit a fire underneath a lot of our guys to step and work through the adversity.”

Photos By Jeremy McDonald