On the doorstep of the 4th Region Championship game last year, the Russell County Lakers fell just short in a comeback attempt against Franklin-Simpson.
Walking off the field in Bowling Green at Nick Denes Field after a 5-3 defeat, the focus immediately turned to next year and now as springtime has rolled around, the Lakers have their sights set on the 4th Region Championship.
The Lakers are coming off a 30-win season in 2021, and return a majority of their production from last year’s squad.
Gone are seniors Noah Hadley, CJ Vonfumetti, and Austin Harris, but the Lakers return a core group of seniors that played significant roles last year.
Among that group of returnees is Nathan Lawson, the top pitcher and hitter from last season. Lawson, one of the top prospects in the state and an Eastern Kentucky University signee, led the Lakers on the mound with an earned run average of 1.95 with 7 wins and 1 loss on the season and 91 strikeouts. Cody Luttrell also returns with an ERA of 2.25 last year and a win-loss record of 9-2 and 76 strikeouts.
Nick Aaron also comes back with a record of 5-1 on the mound, a 2.09 ERA and 53 strikeouts.
That group will lead the pitching for the Lakers, with Evan Hammond, Aidan Antle, and Camden Carpenter expected to be utilized on the mound too.
Lawson also returns as the Lakers leader in hits (50), RBI (53), home runs (9) and batting average (.442).
The Lakers also return seven of their top nine batters from last year in terms of hits with Antle (40), Issac Roy (40), Nick Aaron (36), Hammond (30), Mason Gosser (25), and Bryce Cowell (17).
That group also combined for a total of 160 RBI last season.
For more in-depth discussion about Laker Baseball, listen to the latest episode of Laker Sports Talk, where assistant coaches Rob Clark and Chris Taylor join the show.
