JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Jamestown High baseball team made a surprise run to the West Region title game and state tournament in 2017 and they will try to repeat the feat with a big part of their core returning.

Head coach Kelley Kessler said his team is starting to expect success:

They lost Nolan Kratz (reigning WDA Senior Athlete of the Year), Ben Frieble, Andrew Nohrenberg, and Carter Weiser to graduation; but return a strong group of juniors and one senior, Drew Murray.

Offensively, the Jays lost a ton a production at the plate with Kratz’s graduation:

They bring back just two pitchers with significant innings on the mound, Ryder Lunzman and Dawson Douty. “We lost a lot of innings on the mound, but Ryder [Lunzman] went 5-1 last year and because of arm issues, we didn’t even get to use him in the West Region tournament or state touranment,” Kessler said.

There is still no start date for the Jays first game.