The Bureau Valley Storm had a record-breaking season on the diamond last year, finishing with 22 wins.

While the Storm lost a strong senior core, ninth-year Storm skipper Ryan Schisler believes the Storm have the makeup with seniors Logan Philhower (IF/P) and Tyce Barkman (C/OF) and juniors Drake Taylor (IF/P) and Blake Foster (IF/P) for continued success.

“We graduated a great group last year that is certainly tough to replace, but we have a really strong crop of juniors that have played a lot of baseball together over the years,” Schisler said. “I think if we can get them up to speed at the varsity level, and playing as a unit, we will have a great chance to be successful.

“Our four returners all played really critical roles for us last year, so we will need for them to lead the way in showing what confidence and discipline on and off the field look like, and have confidence that they will be able to do that.”

Philhower and Taylor believe the Storm can pick up where they left off last year.

“I think we can keep the program going. We have a bunch of young guys coming in that can definitely be a big part of our program,” Philhower said. “I think we will continue to get better each and every day, and I am really excited to see how we compete going into the season.”

“Last season was fun, it was great. We had all 11 guys on the same page no matter what was going on. The chemistry on that team was incredible,” Taylor said. “This year we are going to have to have a lot of discipline and pride to have another season like that. We lost a lot of experience. The returning guys need to step up and show our teammates how to win at the varsity level.”

Philhower is coming off a season of All-State recognition. He set the school record for ERA (1.58) and tied the record for wins (8-3) while striking out 103 batters in 53 1/3 innings. He also carried a team-high .369 average with 31 RBIs, 35 runs, five doubles, a homer and 11 steals.

Taylor set a school record with 34 RBIs last spring, batting .362 with five doubles, two triples and a homer.

Philhower and Taylor, along with Foster (.326, 10 doubles, 20 RBIs), all earned first team Lincoln Trail All-Conference honors in the West Division.

Juniors being counted on to step up this spring are Tyler Donnelly (OF), Dylan Howlett (OF/C), Aiden Litherland (IF/P), Brody Lewis (IF/P), Dakarai Martin (OF), Reid Maynard (IF) and Ashten Salzmann (IF).

“Our junior group has some guys recovering from injuries that sapped part of their year last year or will bleed into this year, so we are hoping to get them all healthy and rolling by mid-April,” Schisler said.

Schisler is also happy to add senior Brandon Carrington, who is new to the program, “but we know is a great athlete, so we will coach him up.”

The Storm’s first game is scheduled for Tuesday at Rock Falls.