It was an encouraging summer for right-hander Josh Toliver, who led the Travelers in wins (3) and earned-run average (1.94) while also tossing the team's only shutout.(Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Even though 12 games and the Mid-Missouri River League Tournament were wiped out by wet weather, Travelers head coach Ian Verts isn't prone to whining.

"It was the same for everybody else we play," he noted, pointing the 10 games played by NCMC rival Mexico. "Eighteen games wasn't a ton, but it was more than we had played."

At least during his first season Verts laid the groundwork for a more ambitious summer program for Marshall (8-10), which is aimed at developing the high school Owls become more consistently competitive in future years. Next summer Verts is planning on having two teams in action, on the varsity and junior varsity levels -- the latter possibly remaining in the same league.

"That was it's more reps [repetitions] and more ball games for more people," he said. "Not as many people sitting on the bench."

Even though the calendar was unavoidably shortened, Verts liked what he saw with a young group comprised primarily of freshmen and sophomores.

"Our first time out there, we booted the ball around and didn't hit the ball, but we progressed," Verts said. "If we could have had 30 games, we could have improved even more."

Development was the main focus of the summer, "because that's the future of our high school team," Verts explained. "I saw a lot of promising potential out there."

Yet, getting better at the fundamentals of the game -- hitting, throwing and base-running -- is still the highest priority for a program attempting to grow.

"It's going to take repetition, repetition, repetition to improve those things," Verts said. "As much as we improved this summer, we're going to have to do that 10-fold to be where we need to be."

Unlike the spring, when Verts had to start fresh after taking over a prep program which had seen three different head coaches in the three previous years, he now has a handle on the available talent.

"The huge benefit is that I can see where guys can play and can't play a little earlier," Verts said. "The evaluation process is sped up."

Verts is "looking forward to working with eighth-graders coming and seeing what we're going to have there," something which wasn't done this summer.

Further, even a shortened schedule allowed what will essentially be the Owls' squad next year to bond -- the first step to establishing a team character and chemistry. In this area, Verts liked what he saw.

"They can have a good time, but know when to work," he declared. "They work hard and are great listeners."