For a team that has been to the District 9 championship game twice in the last 19 seasons, the expectations for Bradford baseball were the highest they had been in a while ahead of the 2022 season.

The Owls boasted a team of 12 returning letter winners and 13 seniors with plans to snap a three-year playoff drought in head coach Eric Haynoski’s second season.

“We know we have a tough road ahead of us,” Haynoski said in March. “But we have a goal to hang a banner.”

The program hoped 2022 would bring double-digit wins. However, key injuries quickly derailed the season.

Haynoski and the Owls worked to fill the voids, but stumbled into a 5-13 record.

In the process of replacing crucial injured players, Haynoski gave his young core valuable experience that could lead to the Owls reaching their goals a year later than expected.

“I mean, I was generally disappointed because of our record and the way we finished but we have kids coming up through that want to win and they want to be out there,” Haynoski said. “I’m excited to see what the future holds for us.”

The Owls struggled to remain healthy from the get-go. Haynoski lost senior outfielder Dalton Dixon — the team’s 2021 team leader in hits (16) and batting average (.320) to a wrist injury before the season.

Without Dixon, the Owls weathered the storm, arriving at a 3-1 record by mid-April with Michael Gow putting up impressive numbers.

In his first 10 at-bats, Gow was hitting .400 with two runs, two runs batted in and one double. Gow, expected to be the Owls’ perennial ace, also started the season 2-0 with a 2.62 earned run average.

Unfortunately, Gow went down with a season-ending injury after just five games, putting the pressure on Cam Austin and other seniors to shoulder the offensive load.

Austin led the team all season with a .429 batting average in 52 at-bats and came up with timely hits. Austin accumulated 21 hits, 12 runs, 12 RBI and four doubles, all team highs.

“I was extremely pleased with (Austin),” Haynoski said. “Anything we asked of him, he did. His hitting was on fire this year and he was on his game all year long.”

Seniors Matt Miller and Ryan Ward enjoyed rises to the starting lineup and increased playing time.

Miller posted a .345 average in 34 plate appearances after taking just eight at-bats all of last season. Miller also tacked on four runs and eight RBI.

After hitting .125 in 29 plate appearances last season, Ward hit .256 and amassed eight runs and eight RBI. Ward also struck out 11 batters in 12 innings across his six pitching appearances.

Over their first four games without Gow and Dixon, the Owls averaged 6.3 runs per game and hit just over .300 as a team.

However, the holes left in the lineup could not be mended entirely, and the Owls’ hitting and pitching shortcomings became untenable.

“We had a couple of key injuries, and the wind went out of our sails so to speak,” Haynoksi said. “And we just couldn’t get some of the kids to step up and fill their holes.”

The Owls finished the season with a 2-12 stretch and were forced to retire after five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule six times. Opponents leaned into Bradford’s pitching inefficiency and sloppy defense, resulting in a 7.74 ERA team and 9.7 runs surrendered per game.

During the team’s string of losses and the growing probability that the team was headed towards its fourth straight missed postseason, Haynoski reprioritized.

The Owls shuffled the starting lineup during an eight-game losing streak and began playing younger players. Two freshmen, five sophomores and three juniors played and made over 40 total appearances over the second half of the season.

“We wanted to get their feet wet this year and get them ready for next year so they can just step into their role and just hit the ground running,” Haynoski said. “We found time for them, and every time we put them in situations, they did well for us. So, we’re extremely excited about moving forward.”

Freshman Talan Reese showed brightest for the young core, appearing in 11 games — most of any freshman — and hit .111 with four runs and one double. Reese got it done on the mound as well pitching in six games and posting a 1-3 record with a 5.55 ERA.

“I love (Talan) Reese’s competitive nature. He’s a team-first kind of kid. He’s really not worried about his personal stats; he’d rather win than go three for three,” Haynoski said.

Haynoski is looking for more players like Reese heading into the summer season.

Coaching at the high school level, Haynoski knows that winning is not the singular priority, but he and his staff plan to coach their players year-round in hopes of creating a culture committed to winning. As his program looks toward the future, Haynoski thanked his 13 seniors for their contributions and wished them luck as they leave BAHS.

“I think we need to work hard teaching these kids how to win early and expect to win,” Haynoski said. “We can’t have just have three-month baseball players, we need to have six and eight-month baseball players. We need to put more work in in the offseason and make it a priority to get better.”