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2015 Standard Democrat Baseball Player of the Year: Blake Wolferding
SIKESTON -- After a respectable sophomore season where he became a regular in the Sikeston Bulldogs lineup, catcher Blake Wolferding dedicated his offseason to time in the cage and working on his game.
Not only was Wolferding's improvement quickly apparent, but he became the Bulldogs' best hitter at a time when Sikeston was short on offense.
It's after a strong year both at and behind the plate that Wolferding was selected as the 2015 Standard-Democrat Player of the year.
"I don't think it could have went better," Wolferding said of his junior year. "Compared to last year my batting was a lot better. I took a different mental approach this year as far as letting things go. I did a lot of work in the cage off the tee and it's really paid off."
Batting at the heart of the order from the get-go, Wolferding led Sikeston with a .416 batting average and 26 runs batted in.
Wolferding's .649 slugging percentage was also best on the team and his .484 on-base percentage was only topped by one other Bulldog. He collected two triples, two home runs and scored 12 times while only striking out seven times.
Wolferding's contributions were especially welcome as the Bulldogs were forced to replace four All-SEMO Conference starters from the year prior.
"We got some good time out of him the previous year when he had some quality at-bats as a sophomore," Sikeston head coach Alan Scheeter said. "He really dug in and did a lot of work in the weight room in the off season and it showed a lot. He was able to hit the ball with a lot more power and he was able to drive the ball from gap to gap this year. He improved his foot speed by a lot too."
Wolferding's 2015 numbers are a dramatic improvement from his sophomore year, when he played in 22 of the Bulldogs' 25 games in his first year on the varsity roster.
Batting in the bottom half of the order, Wolferding hit for a .271 average and drove in 14 runs. His on-base percentage was .343 and he slugged .407.
His numbers increased in each of these categories his junior year, most notably the 145-point jump in his batting average and 242-point surge in slugging percentage.
Besides the extra practice and playing summer baseball for the Charleston Fighting Squirrels during the offseason, Wolferding credits the rise up the batting order with leading to more opportunities and more meaningful at-bats.
"There was a big difference coming from the bottom of the lineup to the top," Wolferding said. "We had a lot of big bats the year before and especially my freshman year. I just learned from them how they did things. I wanted to do the same things, only hopefully a little better. I actually felt more comfortable at the top of the order because that's where I'm used to during travel ball and summer ball. I like coming up in the big situations and having the pressure on my shoulders. It pushes me to do better."
Along with Wolferding's work with the bat, Scheeter also credits the junior with making big strides behind the plate. In his second year as catcher, Scheeter felt Wolferding was able to handle more responsibility with the pitching staff.
"He really knows what's going on back there," Scheeter said. "He's a great receiver and he calls pitches really well. We asked him to do that when we don't want to take that responsibility because he has a knowledge of the hitters and a knowledge of our pitchers. When you can have him out on the field doing that for you it just makes our job a lot easier."
Added Wolferding, "This year was a lot more comfortable because I got a lot of games caught over the summer with gave me a lot of experience. It just helped a lot, especially with my pop time."
Though Wolferding and his teammates stepped up to match the previous year's 14-11 record, the Bulldogs once again found themselves out of the playoffs in the opening round of districts. During that 9-8 loss to Cape Central to start the Class 5, District 1 tournament, however, Wolferding did his part, going 3 for 5 with a double.
As for his senior year, Wolferding said his goals are simple in wanting to catch more runners stealing while improving his batting average. Both those goals are something his coach has no doubt Wolferding can accomplish.
"I'd just like to see him improve and I know that he will," Scheeter said. "He's one of the hardest working kids that I've seen in the years that I've coached. With the work ethic he has the sky is the limit for him. He's just going to continue to get better because he wants to get better."