With the exception of one player, every body is back for the Oak Hill baseball team.
WALES – The Oak Hill Raiders were within a couple of days of winning the Class B state title last spring when coach Bill Fairchild uttered the words that should send a shiver down the collective spines of every other team in Class B.

“These guys haven’t touched what they’re going to become as ballplayers,” Fairchild said. “I’m not sure that they could do it this year anyway. But as juniors, sophomores and freshmen, they’re playing pretty good.”

Now as seniors, juniors and sophomores, the Raiders are back, having lost just one player from their championship team.

Fairchild was asked Wednesday as the Raiders went through a rainy day workout in the Oak Hill High School gym whether the returning nucleus, 10 months later, had yet begun to scratch the surface of their potential.

“There’s a lot more experience. They’ve had another full year of Legion and a lot of them have been working on their skills all year long,” he said. “Some of them have probably come to the realization that they’re about as good as they’re going to get. So (are they) scratching the surface? I think most of them have got a scratch now.”

It’s hard to imagine the Raiders being that much better than last year, when they finished 17-3, particularly when the one person they lost was a vital cog. Ace Mike Daggett won all four of Oak Hill’s games and nine overall as the team’s unquestioned leader on and off the field.

“One pitcher probably can’t do (take his place),” Duchette said. “I have enough confidence in myself to go win a game, but Daggett was a big loss. I think as a group, we’re going to have the confidence in the field and on the mound to know that we can still do it, as long as our pitchers are throwing strikes.”

If those are the criteria, Duchette is as good a candidate as anyone to become the Raiders’ next ace. The southpaw finished 5-0 last year, second on the team behind Daggett, and with a lower ERA than Daggett, 0.42. He gave up just 11 hits and 17 walks in 28.1 innings, striking out nearly a batter per inning.

“He’s tougher on right-hand batters,” Fairchild said. “Everything’s tailing away or the curve is biting at their back foot. They don’t see that very often.”

Duchette is also a candidate to be the team’s vocal leader, though he says he’ll get plenty of help there, too.

“We all want to step up. It’s not like we feel the pressure to put the team on our shoulders,” he said. “If you come to a game, in the infield you’re going to hear everyone talking, shortstop, second, third first, we’re all going to be yelling and we’re all going to be behind each other. It’s not like one guy needs to pump the team up. We’re always pumped up.”

Duchette, who plays first base when he’s not pitching, pumped up his batting average to .411 last season and drove in 13 runs, ranking him second on the team in both categories.

The Raiders have nine of their top 10 hitters back from last year, led by Duchette and Adam Shaffstall (team-high .442 and 16 RBIs). Despite all this talent, the Raiders know that their opponents will waiting to pounce if Oak Hill suffers a letdown or takes an opponent too lightly.

Unfortunately for the KVAC, they’ve got that covered, too.

“The major key is probably going to be going into every game with the same focus,” Duchette said. “We need to go in with the same attitude every game and I think we will.”