The Blaine High School baseball is set for its first pitch of the season and second-year head coach Hunter Anderson is ready to lead this season’s young Borderites.
Anderson originally came to Blaine to coach football alongside Andy Olson in 2023 because the two had coached football together at Burlington-Edison High School.
“A couple of months later, baseball opened up and worked out that way,” Anderson said.
Anderson said he believed last year’s team had a good culture and followed its four pillars of success. This year, they added the fifth pillar: time on task, which is focused on the time a player spends on a skill with the intention of improving.
“Your culture is not what you say it is. It’s how you act when others aren’t around,” Anderson said. “It takes ownership from your players to buy into it.”
Last season, the Borderites went 12-10 under Anderson’s leadership and were 7-8 in the Northwest Conference.
After the departure of nine seniors, Blaine’s team is young but hopeful. One of Blaine’s players to watch is senior catcher Evan Yates, who plays one of the most important roles on the field.
Anderson was a catcher at Burlington-Edison High School before playing two seasons at Yakima Valley College. He earned his bachelor’s degree in health and physical education at Eastern Washington University and received his master’s in sport administration from Louisiana State University.
Anderson comes from a family of baseball players, including his uncle Todd, who has joined the Borderites coaching staff this spring. Todd played baseball at Yakima Valley College and Lewis-Clark State College, where he won two National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championships in 1990 and 1991. Todd also played rookie ball for the Montreal Expos for one season.
“He knows what it takes to play baseball at a high level, but he’s also a very good teacher of the game,” Anderson said. “That veteran presence is huge.”
Also on this season’s coaching staff is Trey Lopez, the 2024 Whatcom Preps Football Assistant Coach of the Year, who will be working with the pitchers.
The staff looks to continue their mission of improving the boys both as players and people, Anderson said. Anderson has also had a major role in developing Blaine athletes before they reach high school.
During the summer, Anderson coaches the summer high school team, the Pipeline Pirates. This offseason, Anderson also teamed up with Blaine softball head coach Riley Miller to offer open batting cages for younger players in an effort to be more involved in Blaine’s youth baseball and softball programs.
“I think we’re going to see a positive trend in the near future with our youth program,” Miller said. “Hunter Anderson and I are both going to have our hands on that.”
With a young Borderite team and a commitment to developing young athletes, Anderson is ready to lead Blaine baseball to competing at a high level.
“Building those practice habits and the culture piece is going to be a lot of fun,” Anderson said.
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