Year after winning its first district title since 1997, the Warriors baseball team can no longer surprise opponents.
According to Chase Crawford, winning a district championship should come with a Surgeon General warning label: Collecting gold medals may be habit-forming.
Last season, the Worthington Christian baseball team captured the school’s first district championship in baseball since 1997. The Warriors defeated East Knox 11-10 in a Division V Central District final on May 29 on Crawford’s walk-off single.
Despite the graduation of five key players from the 2025 squad, Crawford said there’s no reason to back off the expectations.
“Last year’s title only makes everyone on our team want more,” said Crawford, a pitcher and infielder who earned first-team all-CBL and all-district honors last year. “I’ve personally never been satisfied in terms of winning, and I think a lot of guys on the team would agree with that.”
Jason Colley, a former assistant coach who took over the head coaching reins when Michael Kraynak stepped down at the end of last year, hopes his team learned that champions can come out of the most unlikely of places.
Going into the tournament, the Warriors compiled a 15-11 record overall after tying Ready for fifth in the Central Buckeye League with a 6-8 record.
“We were the team no one was talking about as a district champion contender,” said Colley, whose team lost to Ottawa Hills 11-4 in a regional semifinal. “We talked about it in our dugout, and we believed it, but other coaches in the area weren’t talking about us because we hadn’t done it in such a long time.
“I hope the returning players from last year’s team will carry that (belief) over and understand they have what it takes.”
Worthington Christian has three major differences from last season: five graduated seniors, a new head coach, and no more element of surprise.
Jameson Colley, Hunter Doran, Cyrus Nip, Jackson Ressler, and Michael Watson all graduated last year. Jameson Colley was first team all-conference and all-district, while Doran earned second team all-CBL and first team all-district honors.
Colley, a teacher at Worthington Christian since 2013, brings more than 25 years of coaching experience. He restarted the middle school program and served as a varsity assistant last season.
“It helps a lot that Coach Colley was here before taking over, especially from a culture and chemistry standpoint,” Crawford said. “It was a relief they hired a coach who knows our program already and knows how we play.”
Coach Colley hopes his team learned what it takes to win close games. After failing to win one-run games throughout most of Coach Kraynak’s two-year tenure, Worthington Christian ground out a 6-5 win over Madison Plains on May 15 to spark a six-game winning streak.
“One of the things you always want to have is the confidence you’re always in the game, no matter what the score is,” Coach Colley said. “Last year, we stopped looking at it as trying to win a baseball game but trying to win seven 1-inning games. We told players, ‘OK, guys, we don’t have to win the game (right now); We just have to win this inning.’ That approach hopefully will help us again this season.”
Worthington Christian returns an experienced nucleus, with eight players who logged significant varsity innings last spring. Seniors Crawford, Austin Wrobbel, and Jacob Linard anchor the group, while junior Caden Demmer and sophomore Nolan Schoonover bring power arms and big-game experience.
The depth runs further. Seniors Michael Shindle and Noah Rice, along with a junior core that includes Gibby Belcher, Leo Bernardo, Curtis Crager, Asher Doran, Riley Hutcherson, Bryson Lanker, and Jens Schulz, provide versatility across the diamond.
Sophomores Eli Kraynak, Luke Aiken, Ryder Gerdeman, and Evan Beal add emerging depth.
Demmer earned second-team all-CBL honors last season, and Rice, an honorable mention all-district performer as a freshman, returns healthy after battling injuries.
The team will benefit from the addition of senior Sam Kabourek and freshman Charlie Kabourek, who moved in from Lincoln, Neb., as well as freshmen Josiah Colley and Ryne Smith.
“If there was ever a team for a first-year coach to step into, it is this group,” Coach Colley said. “It’s an extremely top-heavy group. We have eight players who saw significant time last year.”
The Warriors must find replacements for Jameson Colley and Hunter Doran, who are now pitching at Taylor University. The coach believes the Warriors will pitch by committee with Wrobbel and Schoonover anchoring the pitching staff.
“We don’t have that ‘number one’ pitcher, but we have three or four who are going to be tough for our opponents,” Coach Colley said. “Schoonover is a hard thrower who picked up a lot of big-game experience his freshman year. Wrobbel is a savvy veteran. He’s not going to blow the ball by you, but he’s got three or four pitches he can use.”
Linard and Demmer add experience, while Bernardo, Belcher, and Josiah Colley round out a staff that leans on depth rather than dominance.
While the pitching depth is set, the outfield has some question marks after the graduation of Jameson Colley, Ressler, and Watson. He believes Crawford, who signed with Mount Vernon Nazarene University to play baseball, Linard, and Schoonover have emerged as front-runners.
“Chase is kind of our utility knife – someone who can play anywhere because of his athleticism,” Coach Colley said. “Mount Vernon Nazarene is looking at him to play in the outfield, so we want to give him chances there.”
Aiken, Beal, Crager, Gerdeman, Hutcherson, and Lanker could also see time in the outfield.
Depending on the pitching matchup, Wrobbel, Josiah Colley, Asher Doran, Bernardo, Rice, Sam Kaborek, and Eli Kraynak provide infield flexibility.
The Warriors may have lost the element of surprise, but their biggest challenge might be staying focused under the spotlight.
“We have a ton of talent and experience; therefore, we have a ton of expectation,” Coach Colley said. “The key for us is going to be handling what we can control. We need to let go of the things outside of our control.
“We’re not just playing for ourselves; we’re playing for the guy next to us, and we’re playing to represent Christ and our school. If we keep those things in the forefront of our mind, that will eliminate the emotional ups and downs (of the season).”