5/5/23
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Noah Likens threw the last pitch of his high school baseball career in the sixth inning of Tuesday’s 5A-West doubleheader with Mountain Home.
The Airedales’ left-hander won three of the team’s seven games during a season that, save the last 15 games, gave the program its first taste of conference success since 2018.
Will it be the final pitch of Likens’ baseball career? He hopes not.
“Realistically, in the long run, everybody’s gotta be done at some point,” Likens said. “But I definitely do aspire to play somewhere.”
To date, Three Rivers Junior College is the only school to knock on Likens’ door. But that doesn’t mean others won’t come coming.
For one thing, wherever he goes, if he goes to play somewhere, he won’t cost the school a dime. Likens carries a 4.3 GPA and is the school’s 2023 Valedictorian.
Good grades have been at the forefront of Likens’ life since kindergarten.
“It taught me to work hard,” Likens said. “Once I put academics first, and work hard at that, then I learn to work hard doing everything else. I played baseball for years, and then it started to heat up with travel ball and showcase ball. I’m in the gym every day, too.
“It (baseball) allowed me to put my best foot forward by being a strong student.”
Likens compiled a 3-3 record with a respectable 3.61 earned run average, walking just 19 hitters. “That seems high to be because we all look at each other in the dugout when he does walk a guy,” Fry said.
Likens batted .302 for the season and .343 in 5A-West play.
“He’s one of those guys who came in as a freshman and who has absolutely changed the culture of the program through the way he practices and the way he competes,” Alma baseball coach Brian Fry said. “He’s that leader who does things by his actions, and he’s not afraid to speak up. I find that a great quality and the kids respond to him.
“He has a mind for baseball, and when he talks, the kids listen.”
Fry grew up down the street from Likens’ dad. Both of his parents, Mom Erin and Dad Justin went to high school with Fry in Van Buren.
“He (Justin) used to live down the street and he’d ride his bike over and we’d all play football when we were kids,” Fry said.
“They lived down the street from each other,” Likens said. “I used to hear stories all the time about how they hang out.”
Likens said he enjoyed playing against his parent’s alma mater.
“It’s a different thing, but at the same time it’s like okay,” he said. “Both of my parents went to Van Buren, and one set of grandparents went to Northside.”
The Airedales, despite a late-season swoon, that saw the team fall from the top of the standings to the middle of the pack, did some good things in 2023. They were competitive, especially early.
The Airedales opened conference play with four wins in six games and at one point were 5-3.
“I feel like it helped the younger guys who maybe haven’t seen competitive 5A-West stuff to be like, ‘Hey, we can do this. Whether or not we’ve done the good, bad, or ugly in the second half of the season, the first part of the season was comparable to anything else we’ve done so far.”
Likens is hopeful the program is on the upswing.
“I do, definitely,” he said. “I feel like we show up and put our best foot forward, and show some poise even when things don’t go right. Once you get the little things corrected it will be fine.”