Dalton Riechers, a 2019 graduate from Platte City High School, joined John Boenker’s team in 2016, and after endless dedication to the game, recently committed to play baseball at Benedictine College. We sat down with Dalton to hear what playing at IE for 3 seasons has meant to him.
How would you sum up your experience playing baseball at Inside Edge?
Inside edge has been one of the best decisions of my life, Todd, Dave, and John have helped me so much to become the player and person that I am today. The approach they take in practice and in managing games really helps build confidence, and that made me a better player.
That confidence carried over to high school, right? I understand you had a pretty remarkable run your Junior and Senior years. Can you tell us the awards you earned those years?
The last 2 years were pretty amazing. My Junior year, I earned 1st-team All-conference Utility Player and Honorable Mention All-State Utility Player. Then during my senior year, I was the starting shortstop for our team. At that position, I earned 1st-Team All-Conference Shortstop and I was selected for the Missouri vs Kansas Class 5 All-Star Game.
How was it to play in the All-Star game?
It was a lot of fun…definitely an experience I will never forget. I had 2 teammates and 2 coaches on the field with me, and it was the west side of the state against the east side, I was selected for shortstop and pitcher. I went 2-3 at the plate and pitched the last 2 innings. It was a great day.
And then, a couple of weeks after that, I found I was selected for honorable mention all-state shortstop. I was really happy and humbled to be nominated. That was definitely a great way to end my high school baseball career.
That’s an impressive high school season. Do you have a favorite game or memory from a high school game?
This past season, we were facing Smithville and they had a guy on first and the kid up to bat hit a ball to the left field fence. My best friend Nolan Saale was playing left field. He raced to the ball and threw it on a line to me. I caught it in shallow left and threw an absolute BB to get the kid out at home. He was 15 ft away from the plate when the catcher caught the ball. We went on to win the game and ended up winning the conference because of that game.
So, what’s next for you?
Right now, I’m having a blast playing with the IE team. We’ve had a pretty good run and we’ve had the opportunity to play on great fields. I’m excited to be playing with these guys, but it’s also bittersweet because I know this is my last season playing for Inside Edge.
Once the season wraps up, I’ll move right into off-season work in preparation for starting at Benedictine College. I’m excited to start that chapter of my life.
I can only imagine. That’s a great next step. In closing, do you have any advice for young IE baseball players?
That’s a tough question because there are so many things I could say. Thinking about it, I’d have to say to trust the process. When I started playing at IE, I never dreamt that I would be an All-Star player in the state. But, with John’s coaching and then Todd and Dave telling us over and over to trust it, great things happened. That, and I would also say that you have to do the work. If you focus on those two things, good things will happen for you.