A new baseball season gets going in Keokuk County tonight, and the Sigourney Savages and Keota Eagles are looking to put together strong summers. Sigourney is coming off a second-place finish in the South Iowa Cedar League in 2023 and 18 total wins, while Keota went 11-12 last season.

The Savages will return one of the area’s top hitters in Caden Clarahan. The junior is coming off a .486 batting average last year with nine doubles, six home runs and 30 runs batted in.

Senior Jake Moore and junior Brady Clark provide a steady hand at the top of order, with Moore scoring a team-high 27 runs in 2023 while also hitting .368 and Clark putting up a .315 average, five doubles and 20 runs last season. The pair also combined for 25 stolen bases.

Clarahan will also be a force to be reckoned with for the Sigourney pitching staff, coming off a 7-2 record and a 1.46 earned-run average last year as well as 87 strikeouts in 57 innings of work. Hurlers Moore and senior Reid Molyneux also return after having ERAs of 2.4 or lower.

The Eagles will be leaning on the bat of Tanner Waterhouse, who hit .329 and scored a team-high 19 runs last summer. Fellow seniors Chase Sieren and Evan Vittetoe provide the thump in the lineup, combining for seven doubles and a triple and Sieren accounting for 20 RBI in 2023.

Waterhouse is also one of the team’s top returning arms, posting a 3.29 ERA in just under 28 innings pitched last season. While Keota will wait until tomorrow night to start their season with a matchup against Twin Cedars, Sigourney throws first pitch of the new season this evening at Pella Christian.