Previewing DeForest Norskies baseball season

When Adam Billings was hired as the new head baseball coach for DeForest over the summer, he preached a simple four-word mantra.

The mantra: Compete with a purpose.

As the start of the 2026 high school baseball season gets underway, that four-word mantra will now take the field with the DeForest Norskies baseball team set to open their season on Wednesday, April 1.

“I’m pretty excited,” DeForest’s first-year head coach, Adam Billings, said. “It’s a younger group than we had than last year, and after watching the pitchers, catchers and the first week of practices in the scrimmage, it’s pretty exciting to see the talent that we do have.”

Last season, DeForest finished their spring campaign with an 11-15 overall record, including a 4-10 mark in the Badger-Large Conference. Losing 12 seniors on last year’s team to graduation, the Norskies have only five seniors on this year’s roster, according to Billings.

But Billings doesn’t view DeForest’s youth in a negative light. Rather, he views it as an opportunity.

“With these younger guys that are going to get a ton of playing time and repetitions in the next two to three years, it’s exciting to project what they’re going to do having that experience that they bring to the table,” he said.

“We’re hopefully optimistic that they can do better than we’re expecting,” Billings continued. “And if that’s the case, it’s going to be a good deal going forward.”

While DeForest may be young this season, it doesn’t mean that the cupboard is bare.

In fact, the cupboard is far from bare.

Among the list of notable returnees for DeForest this season is senior Carter Meyers. Last spring, Meyers was one of three Norskies to receive 2025 Badger-Large honorable mention All-Conference honors alongside Cullen Kirchberg (2025) and Nick Hermansen (2025).

Meyers, a three-year starter for DeForest, is expected to be the leader on the field, both offensively and defensively, Billings said.

Another senior poised to make an impact this season is Mason Ladwig. Ladwig offers positional versatility for the Norskies, where he can deliver quality innings on the mound or field a spot in the outfield.

Then there’s the Norskies’ junior trio of Carter Goldschmidt (OF/1B), Cooper Goldschmidt (SS/P) and Nolan Pennekamp (C/1B/P). All three were everyday starters for DeForest last season and are expected to take another step forward this season.

Where DeForest will have its most depth this spring comes inside the pitching circle. 12 of its 16 players on the roster can eat away innings on the mound.

Anchored by their pitching depth, Billings believes the Norskies’ strength this season lies in their defense.

Fittingly, these go hand-in-hand. When DeForest won last season, they oftentimes controlled the mound. In their 11 wins, they allowed 23 total runs. They allowed a hair over two runs per game, according to wissports.net.

“Our defense is we’re hoping to win games,” Billings said.

As DeForest puts the final touches in place before games officially get underway, taking the next step forward will begin with the habits they built in the preseason.

“If you’re competing with the purpose, you’re creating the good habits,” Billings said. “And once you have those good habits, you take that into a game, and it just comes naturally to you...When you get some adversity, you just kick into the good habits that you’ve created during practice when we were going through it with a purpose.”

The Norskies will open the 2026 season on Wednesday, April 1, hosting Aquinas, before traveling to Sun Prairie West on Friday, April 3. Both games are set for 5 p.m., according to DeForest Athletics.