WWU baseball club has a new group of talent to help them take the next step

The 2023 season was one of the best in recent memory for Vikings baseball, making it to regionals for the first time since 2018. Following two suspended seasons in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19, the Vikings finished with a record of 5-10 and 19-11 the past two years. They are looking to improve once again in 2024.

“I’m getting shivers just thinking about it,” said Greg Roberts, starting outfielder and president of the team. “We got a good core group of guys coming back. I think we’ve got good pitching overall. We’ve got some bats to rival the best teams that we faced last year.”

Western plays in the Northern Pacific-West region in Division I of the NCBA.

The team has grown in skill and organization over the past few seasons. 

“We just told the returners, ‘Hey, can you guys get a scrimmage together,’ and they’re quick to do it and very vocal,” said JD Parvankin, starting middle infielder and treasurer. “I’ve seen a few guys that have gained quite a bit of velocity on their pitches, I think we have a better team than last year.”. 

The improvement that the team hopes to see is centered around the new talent coming in. Among the new players that are looking to make an impact is incoming sophomore Duncan Barker.

Barker transferred from Skagit Valley College where he played his freshman year. Dissatisfied with his first year there, he decided to step away and lean into a new opportunity with Western. 

“There was an aching feeling over me at all times. It was like, ‘Oh, I have to impress the coach. I have to do this. I have to do that. I have to be perfect,’” Barker said. “But now that I’m here, I want to have fun.”

The Vikings are looking to put together a few practice games against the University of Washington’s club team on Nov. 4 and 5. Western’s season officially starts in March with all home games being played at Joe Martin Stadium.

Number	Name	Home town	High School	Year	Position
1	Shoya Furikawa	Gifu, Japan	Higashi	Fr.	3B, P
2	Hawthorne Wolfe	Coupeville, WA	Coupeville	So.	P, OF
3	Titus Edwards	Kent, WA	Kent Meridian	Fr.	P, 1B, OF
4	Joe Sindell	Seattle, WA	Nathan Hale	Fr.	2B, SS, OF
5	Joe Linerelli	Kirkland, WA	Juanita	Jr.	P, OF
6	JD Parvankin	Portland, OR	Grover Cleveland	Sr.	SS, 2B, P
7	Alex Fuchs	Singapore	Singapore American	So.	P, SS, 3B
8	AJ O’Shea	Olympia, WA	Olympia	Sr.	SS, 2B
9	Ian Gilmore	Goleta, CA	Dos Pueblos	Fr.	OF
10	Alex Hitchcock	Vashon Island	Vashon	Sr.	1B, P
11	Nathan Herman	Olympia, WA	Olympia	Fr.	OF
12	Caden Mesdag	Juneau, AK	Juneau Douglas	Fr.	SS, OF, P
13	Mathias King	Seattle, WA	Ballard	So.	OF, P
14	Colin McBride	Issaquah, WA	Issaquah	Fr.	1B, 3B
15	Jack Beers	Edmonds, WA	Edmonds Woodway	So.	C, OF
16	Tomas Holmes	Eastbound, WA	Orcas Island	Jr.	3B, 2B, P
17	Ben Murray	Seattle, WA	Ballard	Jr.	3B, P
18	Soren Karlson	Renton, WA	Renton	So.	P, OF
19	Berto Kannapell	Seattle, WA	Roosevelt	So.	SS, 2B, P
20	Tyler Song	Lynnwood, WA	Mountlake Terrace	Fr.	P
21	Duncan Barker	Bothel, WA	Bothel	So.	P, OF
22	Greg Roberts	Bellingham, WA	Ferndale	Jr.	OF, C
23	Mitch Berquist	Longview, WA	Longview	Sr.	Utility
25	Davin Trefry	Wenatchee, WA	East Wenatchee	So.	P, OF
30	Seamus Brown	Redmond, WA	Redmond	So.	C, 3B
44	Ale Rodriguez	Federal Way, WA	Kennedy Catholic	So.	SS, 2B

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