It's a numbers game, again, for Cardinals

MEDICAL LAKE - Building things is second nature to Medical Lake baseball coach Austin Sharp.

Because when he's not teaching the game, Sharp is in the construction business where from time to time he likely has to improvise. That is the perfect skill required for Cardinal baseball which is regularly short on players.

"Right now, our numbers are about as low as I've ever had them," Sharp said. "We've got 26 signed up, but my upper classes are just very light. I have five total kids, juniors and seniors, that's it."

This comes in contrast to post-COVID days in 2021 when the current famine turned to feast with 43 in the program. "Kids just wanted to be outside and play sports," Sharp said.

But with the Northeast A League not allowing teams to play non-league that season it blunted progress.

"I mean, we had 22 or more on the JV squad level, but we had no way to play," Sharp explained. "We lost a lot of those kids who didn't come back."

Currently there are 13 on the varsity roster on a team that was an out away from reaching state, falling to Colville 7-6. Medical Lake finished 18-6, Sharp said, reaching district playoffs at Avista Stadium, but falling in heartbreaking fashion.

The Cardinals graduated four players - a lot of pitching Sharp said - but return a number of starters in role-playing positions.

"We did return Luke Dickey, he was a junior last year for us," Sharp said. In his first year on varsity, Dickey impressed Wenatchee Valley Junior College to already sign him.

"He gets recruited as a junior and so that has to say a lot," Sharp said.

The lone other senior is Kaleb Cain, a short stop who is also on the radar of a number of JC programs.

Two juniors, Andrew Roberts at catcher and Taylor Oliver, an outfielder and first baseman should figure both defensively and with their bats, Sharp said.

"Between the two of them they'll knock in a lot of runs this year, and probably have a lot of extra bases," Sharp predicted.

Griffin Marshall will be at third base, is listed as a pitcher on the roster and rounds out the returners.

"It's a good chance we probably have a couple of freshmen play," Sharp said. "But it's Medical Lake, it's expected to have a couple of them every now and then."

In an attempt to address lack of numbers, a new American Legion team, the Medical Lake Dirt Dawgs will soon embark on its second season of single-A play. The team went to state last year.

"That is helping our youth program kind of rebuild and get numbers to have a good, good base for when they get to high school," Sharp said.