RAISING THE BAR

Titans put Ogden on ropes, before falling in district semifinals
Since arriving to the South Central Calhoun baseball program four years ago, head coach Nathan Lamphier had seen plenty of growth within his program.
Even though the Titans’ came up short in narrow 3-2 decision against Ogden in a Class 2A-District 13 semifinal matchup on July 16 at the Bulldog Baseball/Softball Complex on the campus of Ogden High School, the Titans have come so far.
However, the program still has plenty of distance of go in their quest to become one of the top baseball programs in their respective side of the state.
When gathering up his team – led by four seniors in centerfielder Jared Birks, left fielder Bennett Lee, second shortstop Chase McAlister and right fielder Andrew Westcott – Lamphier praised his team for their work so far on the Titans’ journey and how they helped raise the bar of expectations for the program.
After four years, the four seniors have achieved the best conference record in the history of the program, with a 29-13 record and a district championship in 2016 under their belts.
“Over the past two to three weeks, the lights came on,” Lamphier said of his senior leadership. “You see that with a good senior class when it dawns on them that the end is near. What happened before that, you can’t control, and all you can do is move forward. They showed up and they brought up.”
“When you have good senior leadership, the underclassmen are going to follow,” Lamphier continued. “That’s what we saw from them against Ogden.”
With the end of a great run, tears were shed and hugs were shared. It was the last moment where the seniors could be just the boys of summer, before moving on to college and their first steps toward adulthood.
“The guys have bought in,” Lamphier said. “You can see that there isn’t a dry eye out here. Everybody truly feels like they’re a part of this program. It doesn’t matter who they are, but there’s a reason behind what we do and how we do it. It’s not just for one individual, it’s for everybody.”
“These guys get it,” Lamphier added. “We challenged them to build on the foundation set in 2016. This year, we felt like we were ready to add on to that, and that’s what this senior class did. Now, for this upcoming class, it’s their turn to finish the project. We’re not happy with the loss, but we’re happy with the overall picture of the program and where it’s going.”
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