Kickapoo pitcher Kaleb Schmidt spent the winter thinking about the Chiefs’ third place finish in the state playoffs in 2015.
The righty signed to pitch for the University of Central Arkansas also worked on building up the speed on his fastball. The work showed in Kickapoo’s 2-1 home win over Ozark (2-2) Tuesday afternoon in a pitcher’s duel between Schmidt and Ozark right-hander Tanner Wallace.
Schmidt pitched six innings and allowed one earned run on two hits. He struck out nine batters, walked three and recorded one hit batsman.
“We’ve been going hard and that’s one thing I really wanted to do is get my fastball better, especially going to the next level next year,” Schmidt said.