Ellensburg’s wind is picking up, but baseball season is winding down for the 2019 season  as the Wildcats prepare to hit the road and take care of the Northwest Nazarene University Nighthawks (21-21) in their final four games of the season.

The Wildcats (14-28-1) are having a down season in comparison to last year where they finished the season with an overall record of 27-26. With that being said, there’s a lot more to acknowledge about the growth and potential of this team as it looks to rebound in the coming years. Assistant coach Kellen Camus expressed that with new players on this year’s squad, the team has taken on a younger identity, but looks to have a brighter future to show for it down the road.

“We had to bring a lot of new faces in and to bring a lot of new faces in, it’s taken us longer to get together as a team,” Camus said. “There’s a lot of learning curve. I don’t think we’ve quite learned each other’s game and that’s a big key.”

Infielder Mitch Lesmeister has been an impact player for the Wildcats this season. The sophomore has started 43 games of the 44 games that he’s played in and has been hitting a quality batting average of .351 at the plate.

“I think that the important thing is that we’re trying to play for each other and move forward,” Lesmeister said.

Junior outfielder Justin Hampson has also served an integral role on the team this season, batting a solid .298 to go along with a .444 slugging percentage. As an upperclassman having seen the team change over the years, Hampson acknowledged that in past seasons, the Wildcats have been defined as more of a “big powerhouse team.” With new faces on the team though and a different lineup to show for it, Hampson said that the ball club is trying to transition into becoming more of a quicker, athletic, defensive-centered threat.

“The team is molding into a new type of team,” Hampson said. “I think we’re on the right track.

We’re still young and we’ve got lots of really good players.”

Recently, the Wildcats wrapped up a four-game home series where they were swept by GNAC opponent Montana State University Billings. Despite what may have seemed like a rocky series being outscored 19-60, Camus stated that there’s always going to be opportunities to improve and get better as a ball club, even in the final games of a season.

“We showed signs of improvement, but overall we didn’t play a full nine innings, a full seven, a full nine, a full seven,” Camus said. “We gotta look at ourselves and say how can we improve just for the rest of the year. How can we win those tight games, how can we improve from an offensive side, from the defensive side, from the pitching side. How can we put it all together as one whole.”