GOSHEN, Ind. - The Goshen baseball team is set to begin their 2026 season this weekend down at Union Commonwealth University in Barbourville, Kentucky. This year, the team is "wired to win" as they look to make the Crossroads League tournament.

"We're all wired to win, we just need to be winning at the right things," shared head coach Brad Stoltzfus.

Goshen had a 7-37 record a year ago and went 6-30 in the Crossroads League. The most notable win was a 5-1 road victory at #10 Taylor in which the Trojans were held to just three hits. Chris Godden, Aidan Calvey, Chase Smith, Troy Griffin, Lance Wilson, Dylan Pearson, AJ Carrasquillo and Logan Wilson are some key returners to keep an eye on this year, while Adam Traylor, Barron Welsh and Braxton Nagy are a few notable freshmen to watch for. Traylor and Welsh both hail from Madison, Indiana and Southwestern High School. Traylor is a pitcher and Welsh is an infielder. Nagy is a pitcher out of Middlebury, Indiana and Northridge High School.

In addition to being "wired to win", a couple of other key themes for the team this year are "I am willing" and "I got this". "'I am willing' sets the tone for each day - I am willing to do the hard things in life for the betterment of the team's success," said Stoltzfus. "'I got this' exemplifies the confidence in our ability to accomplish a goal, no matter the size or severity of the task."

The most significant of those goals this season is to make the Crossroads League tournament. Some smaller goals to hit in order to achieve that are to cut their team ERA in half from a year ago, improve the team OPS by a full point, average fewer than two errors per game and steal at least 100 bases over the season. Off the field, they want to hit a 3.2 team GPA, match the number of community outreach and engagement events they were involved in from last year and retain all of the players that are not graduating at the season's end.

Another addition to help the team reach the league tournament this year is new assistant coach Mike Brouillette. While Brouillette is new to the Maple Leafs, he brings over 25 years of coaching experience at the college and high school levels. "Mike has brought high energy and leadership skills to our team and his experience around the game has opened new avenues for our players' growth and development," said Stoltzfus. "Unfortunately, he is dealing with some health issues and will be away from the team for a period of time." Assistant Ike Lehman has a more elevated role this year - leading the team's strength and conditioning program and working as the catcher's coach. Pitching coach James Stricker returns for year three, continuing to structure and build the path for the pitchers to succeed. "We've seen developmental strides from our pitching staff this year and everyone is ready to step up," Stoltzfus added.

Goshen starts the season on Sunday, February 8, at Union Commonwealth University at noon. The doubleheader will be played at Corbin High School in Corbin, Kentucky. All four games in the series will be seven innings, with the last two taking place on Monday starting at 10:00 am. The Leafs then play four games at Campbellsville University and six at Lindsey Wilson College before starting Crossroads League play on February 27. The first home games are on February 28 against Spring Arbor. Stay tuned to the Goshen College Athletics social media pages and www.goleafs.net/sports/baseball/schedule for the most up to date schedule.