DENMARK — The last two seasons have been special for the Denmark Vikings baseball team, as they’re coming off back-to-back Division 2 state titles.
“Kind of blur that final day. It was a lot of fun,” said Vikings head coach Bill Miller on the Hayden Konkol's walk-off hit to win last year's title. Miller is in year No. 31 as the head coach of the program.
“It was crazy, it was almost unbelievable,” said senior catcher Rheis Johnson. “Not a lot of people can say they went back to back. Chasing this 3rd one is going to be a lot of fun.”
As for what has made Bill Miller’s Denmark High School baseball program so successful:
“Starts with the good group of guys, they’re all in,” Miller said. “We had some real good leaders the last couple of years. They lead by example and the rest of the guys follow.”
The players credit Miller’s hands-on approach with the youth program. Most have known him since they were little leaguers.
“I mean, he’s the best,” said senior outfielder John Wertel. “Words can’t describe (it). He’s instilled so much in us. Just work hard and he’s just a good mentor.”
Now that the page has turned to 2023, the Vikings can’t live off of their success from the past two years.
“They got a target on their back – same as last year,” Miller said. “They see all the news clippings and so forth. A lot of that is based off of last year's team, you gotta become your own team this year. You got to set the standard yourself.”
Gone from last year's team are eight seniors. Replacing them, are eight seniors on this year's team.
“There’s a lot of holes we need to fill,” Johnson said. “High expectations for the younger guys coming up. Seniors now, we’re confident, we know what we can do. We have the experience to teach the younger guys and we’re ready.”
“I think if we work as hard as the last two classes, then we should be good,” Wertel said.
It’s still early in the season and the team is a work in progress, but playing fundamentally sound baseball can get the team where they need to be quickly.
“Make the plays in the field,” Miller said. “You don’t have to be flashy out there. Make the routine plays. Get good at bats. When you’re on the bases, be smart base runners.”
The Vikings are confident that they can be a contender once again. They're 2-1 so far in 2023.
“If we want it bad enough, then we’re going to do it. Easy as that,” said Wertel.
