One of the strengths of this year’s West Central Valley baseball team is their overall team speed, and they are using it to their advantage a lot.Entering the weekend, the Wildcats has stolen 35 total bases in 35 attempts, the most recorded in all of Iowa high school baseball without at least one runner thrown out.

The Raccoon Valley Radio Network taped an interview with West Central Valley baseball coach Justin Keck Friday morning for next week’s Guthrie County PM Sports Page. Keck says the Wildcats are quicker than a lot of teams they face. “I’ve got experienced guys that know when to steal bases,” Keck said, “A lot of times, they’ll just take bases off of pitchers. I didn’t even tell them to steal. They just read the pitcher really well.”

Keck also contributes their stealing success to having a lot of state track qualifiers on the baseball team. The Wildcats top base stealer so far this season is junior Cole Arnburg with nine. Freshman Evan Taylor is second on the squad with six, while junior Korbin Norse and Drew Taylor each have five stolen bases apiece. The Wildcat baseball team enters the weekend with a 5-2 overall record. West Central Valley baseball resumes West Central Activities Conference play Monday at home against the Ogden Bulldogs. Hear an interview with Keck on the Guthrie County PM Sports Page, Monday at 6 p.m. on True Country, K 107.9.