As the 2025 baseball season approached, players for the Norwalk Warriors said they were optimistic about the upcoming season.
“Every goal through the season is to make it to state and win it, of course,” said senior Cole Wardlow. He plays the pitcher and shortstop positions. “It’s [a] pretty challenging thing to do, but I think we’ve got two ranked sophomores, Colton [Moore] and Rhylee [Schmidt], and once they just dial in with their consistency.”
Those two sophomores, outfielder and shortstop Colton Moore and catcher Rhylee Schmidt, have been described by Wardlow as “really good players” who “stay consistent when they play.” He also says that “both play as hard as they can, no matter what the score is.”
In the spring league games, Moore launched a fly ball to deep left field in a game against the Pella Dutch and scored on a home run. In another spring league game, junior Kingston Lamb hit a solid grand slam, a home run that scores runners with bases loaded, to left field against the Southeast Polk Rams.
This season, the Warriors will face the Centennial Jaguars on June 30. The Jaguars are on high alert because they went to the state championship last season, losing to Dowling. However, they lost their best pitcher, who was ranked in the top fifty by the MLB. Joey Oakie was drafted by the Cleveland Guardians in the 3rd round of the 2024 draft.
“Obviously, it’s going to be a little easier for us to face Centennial,” said senior Bryson Chapman when asked about Oakie. “Because I mean, Oakie was out there, throwing darts the entire time. We just got to come in with the right mindset, and I think we can take anybody.”
After six games in the season, the Warriors have won two games, and both were against the Newton Cardinals. This included a heartbreak at North Polk, where the Warriors led by four during the 5th inning. However, the Comets mounted a comeback that had them walk it off, 8-7.
The Warriors compete in arguably one of the most competitive conferences in the state, with the Little Hawkeye Conference having multiple state-competitive teams. The Warriors will eventually face Dallas Center-Grimes during the season, which took first place in the highest class last year.
“It will be a challenge, but this year, we’re going to come out on top on those close games,” said sophomore Colton Moore. “We have more pitching this year and our infield has been looking a lot better. So, it’s going to be a challenge, but I also think we’ll be able to pull through with it and stay disciplined throughout the year.
There will also be three faceoffs between Norwalk and the Indianola Indians, who are the biggest rivals. Two will be home games and the other is away.
“I think we’ll play pretty good. They do have a couple pretty good guys coming back, a couple of good hitters,” said Chapman. “[At the] same time last year, Briley Purcell threw and that’s the game that he injured his UCL… now that we have him back, and we have a few healthy arms, I think we’ll be able to hang in a lot better.”
Speaking of the ulnar collateral ligament, injuring the UCL is one of the most harmful injuries in baseball history. It requires surgery and a minimum of nine months recovery.
The next game for the Norwalk Warriors will take place on Friday, May 30 against the Gilbert Tigers. It will be at the Norwalk baseball fields and varsity plays at 7:00 p.m.
