Legion Baseball: Limited on experience, Docs hope vets can usher young group to success in 2026
Logan Anderson and Paxton Burke are standouts on the baseball diamond, but they stick out on this year’s Dr. Stewart’s American Legion Baseball roster for a different reason.
They’re the wily old veterans amongst a group of first-year Docs players and high school underclassmen.
“It’s definitely a wide group of guys, as far as, you have a few of the returners and some older guys on top and then it drops to a pretty young group, pretty quick. So, we’ll lean on those guys,” first year coach Cody Walton said ahead of Wednesday’s season-opening 10-2 loss against Medford at Champion Car Wash Field.
Anderson is back from his freshman season at Southwestern Oregon Community College and will play his fourth and final season with the Docs.
“It’s a great opportunity to come back,” Anderson said. “I had a lot of fun my first year. The older guys made it a lot of fun, so that’s kind of my goal this year is to make it fun for the younger guys and as well as compete and win some ballgames.”
Burke is playing his third season with the Stewies after graduating this spring from Roseburg High School. A two-time first team All-Southwest Conference selection, Burke is preparing to head to Lewis-Clark State College next fall and said his mindset is to bring the old guys together with the young guns.
“Find a way to bond with the older guys and lead the young guys, that’s going to be our biggest thing, and that’s probably going to be the way we win it this year,” Burke said.
Behind those two, there are only five players returning for a second season after seeing the field for a bit in 2025.
Roseburg’s Fletcher Coleman and Umpqua Valley Christian’s Ryan Shaver lead that group, having played in 22 games each, although Shaver is rehabbing from an injury suffered at the end of the spring season.
Teagan Sprague (UVC), Amos Bowers (RHS) and Danner Wertz (RHS) return after playing in 18 games a year ago.
That leaves 12 newcomers to the AAA American Legion baseball level and Walton has selected a group that is not only inexperienced, but also very young.
The Docs have five players who will be seniors next school year, three that will be juniors, three incoming sophomores and one player who hasn’t even started high school.
“I like the attitude and effort from these guys,” Walton said. “They hustle all the time and fly around. They handle the controlables, which is really important for me and the coaching staff here. They’re going to get thrown in the fire. So, they’ll definitely get some bumps and bruises but we’ll be here to pick them up and I hope by the end of the summer they’ll be in a really good spot.”
It will be a steep learning curve and that was seen in the loss to the Mustangs.
The Docs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first two innings on a RBI single by Wertz and a run-scoring triple by Burke, but a slew of new arms allowed the Mustangs to rally for the win.
Eight different pitchers got a shot on the mound, but nerves and adjusting to a higher level of competition got the better of the group. The Docs allowed 11 walks and surrendered 12 hits.
“It was good for (the new guys) to kind of get some reps against a really good baseball team,” Walton said. “Obviously, we get too many free passes and can’t do that. You’re not gonna win a lot of games that way, but we saw a lot of good things.”
The Docs notched five hits against the Mustangs. Again, Burke and Anderson will be expected to help lift the lineup. Burke had a team-high .371 batting average last year and Anderson hit .291.
The duo will also provide a reliable presence on the infield defensively. They’ll help lead a deep position group that can provide a stabilizing force for the entire team.
“In this league you’re going to get a lot of ground balls, and it’s going to help, obviously, with double plays, and those guys having some tenure and helping us there,” Walton said about his veteran infielders. “I think that’ll be the catalyst. If we take care of business in the infield, and the other guys see that energy, we can build off of that.”
Walton added that an emphasis for the young arms so far has been to throw strikes and let the defense make plays behind them.
“(We’re) telling those young guys it’s okay, and not trying to strike everybody out,” Walton said. “I know there were some nerves today, and so for them to kind of realize, yeah, I can throw strikes and let those guys make some plays, they haven’t had a defense like that behind them in their high schools, so it’ll be good.”
Wertz is the lone arm to return with more than 15 innings pitched last summer for the Docs. He pitched a team-high 38 2/3 innings and compiled a 3-1 record with a 3.08 earned run average. Coleman has the second-most experience after pitching 12 1/3 innings. He earned a 1-0 record with two saves and a 2.76 ERA.
The Docs will need some other arms to step up as opportunities arise. Sprague, Logan Schwerdt and Logan Shipman will likely be among the first guys given a chance to stand out.
Sprague was the 2A/1A Special District 5 Pitcher of the Year with UVC this spring. Schwerdt, a southpaw from South Umpqua, was an All-Far West League selection on the mound. Shipman comes to the valley from Marshfield High School, where he was an all-league arm for the Pirates. He plans to join the Umpqua Riverhawks baseball team next fall.
Then there’s the young and unproven talent. Sutherlin’s Quinn Gaylor and Roseburg’s Christian Korba are both finishing up their freshmen years and Roseburg’s Greyson Coate was a sophomore. They’ll all get chances to prove themselves this summer.
“(Walton) told me last week or so, he said he’s just gonna throw me in the fire and see what happens,” Gaylor said. “I’m just super stoked and excited. I’m glad to play for this team, with a lot of older guys, so I can learn a lot and make improvements in practice, and even during the games.”
The most surprising addition to the roster might be incoming freshman Wade Molatore, who shows great promise with a lively left arm that is already hitting the low 80s.
“It’s a great opportunity. I’m glad to be with these older guys. It’s going to be a lot of improvement this summer. I’m really excited,” Molatore said.
There’s a lot of unknowns going into the season, whether its a first-year head coach or a young group of ball players. The one sure thing is the Docs hope to be playing at the AAA Oregon state tournament in Medford come the end of July. The tournament will be hosted by the Mustangs July 25-29 at Harry and David Field. Medford is also hosting the Northwest Regional Aug. 5-9.
The intensity and importance to the season takes an immediate jump up as the Docs head to Eugene for their first league doubleheader at 6 p.m. Friday.
