2023 BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL PREVIEWS

hard work and improvement from last year, and we believe he is now going to be an option for us on the mound. Most Improved Player from 2022.

Sophomore Jace Lautemann (OF/P). Another great outfielder -- fast, great tracking, all-around good player.

Sophomore Adam Huffman (IF/OF). Adam was recovering from an injury last year, so he was limited in what he could do. He has the power and the baseball knowledge to do big things.

Sophomore Aiden Meyer (OF). Aiden is another young man with a lot of power and potential.

Key loss: Braden Cors (.330 BA)

Key newcomers: We have a big freshman class coming in that I’m pretty excited about. Key players could be Brady Turner (LHP/1B), Bryson Mossman (OF), Talon Thompson (C/IF) and Dalton Brown (C/IF/OF). There are several others that I’m excited about seeing as far as growth from last year and how that translates at the JV/varsity level.

Pitching: Ryan Oswald and Conrad Charpentier are the aces. Ryan can be lights-out. A lot of power in that big frame. Conrad is one of the more effective lefties in our area. He can put the ball where he wants it almost every pitch. Ethan Walker has been working hard in the off-season and has increased his velo quite a bit from last year. Looking forward to seeing him on the mound, too. Isaac Long,

Brady Turner and Brock Runyon will most likely be giving us key innings as well. We are looking pretty solid as far as pitching this year with several others that can come in for relief.

Hitting: Nolan Turner and Dax Baptist have been our table-setters the past two years, and Conrad Charpentier, Ethan Walker and Ryan Oswald have been our RBI guys. This year the addition of Isaac Long will add more power to the middle of our order, and young, athletic sophomore and freshmen classes should round infield or outfield spot. Besides our upperclassmen, we have guys like Jace Lautemann and Bryson Mossman who can play any outfield position; Brady Turner (1B/ OF/P), Talon Thompson (C/IF), Dalton Brown (IF/C), Adam Huffman (IF) and Brock Runyun (IF) can play all around the infield for us. Having this many capable defenders will allow me to focus on taking care of my pitchers’ arms a lot better than I was able to in the past. Being able to rest guys or DH them when they need it will make us stronger as a whole once postseason rolls around. Not only just a health benefit, but from a team culture standpoint, each player will know they have a vital role to play and always be ready when their number is called. heavy hitters Hannah Parlier at shortstop, Paige Creviston at third and Cami Hurt behind the plate. Jaeden Reardon will be taking over the majority of first base innings while Jenne Varela will occupy center field.

The emergence of Faith Beddingfield and Lily Geirnaeirt at the corner outfield spots and Brianne Rogers at second will round out the opening day lineup. A great group of freshmen, along with Meaghan Marshall, an upperclassman playing for the first time, will round out the roster.

TRIOPIA-MEREDOSIAVIRGINIA BASEBALL

Coach: Rich Thompson

Last year’s record: 21-10 out our lineup. We should be able to put pressure on teams when we are on the base-paths and look to score a lot of runs this season.

Pitching: Starters -- Brock York, Austin Strubbe, Evan Bell, Carter Lakamp, Grant Fricke, Jacob Cook. Not sure who our ace will be, but York had the most innings last year. I expect York, Strubbe and Bell to be our top three.

Hitting: We are very young, with only three players with much varsity experience. I would expect York to lead off, with Bell and Strubbe being our leading RBI guys. After that they are all young and unproven, so we will see. I would imagine we will have to scratch runs out with not a lot of power.

Fielding: It’s hard to say for sure until practice starts as I foresee a few healthy competitions for some defensive spots. With that being said, we are very solid up the middle behind Ethan Walker (catcher), Nolan Turner (shortstop) Isaac Long (second base), and Dax Baptist (center field). Then depending on who is pitching I can imagine a rotation of great fielders filling an

Season outlook: I anticipate having a very successful season. We have six very talented, baseball-oriented upperclassmen and several players who can play multiple positions. We should have enough arms to get through our challenging schedule. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this season plays out. I’m expecting very big things from this group.

Routt Softball

Coach: Jamie Martin

Last year’s record: 7-11

Key losses: Caitlyn Horney and Kelly Peters

Outlook: Kate Cosgriff will return to the mound along with

Returning starters: Junior outfielder/pitcher Evan Bell (.333 BA, 22 runs, 20 RBI), junior infielder/pitcher Austin Strubbe (.306 BA, 14 runs, 8 RBI), sophomore outfielder/pitcher Brock York (.299 BA, 31 runs, 12 RBI)

Key losses: Caden Moore, Ty Malcomson, Brayden Booth, Cordell Walker, Jakob Walkington, Sam Cox, Grant Wisdom

Key newcomers: Junior Carter Lakamp (P/OF), junior Colin Caldwell (OF), sophomore Ian Stock (P/INF), junior Wade Swan (OF), freshman Grant Fricke (P/ INF), freshman Jacob Cook (INF/P), freshman Gameli White (OF), freshman Andrew Hobrock (OF/INF), freshman Cooper Parrish (C/INF), freshman Austin VanGundy (C/OF)

Fielding: We are very up in the air at this point. Our infield will probably be made up of Strubbe and Bell at short or third. Ian Stock will probably play second base, and first base is up in the air. Jacob Cook will get a look there. Fricke has a chance to play some infield as well. We are also trying to find a catcher. Cooper Parrish will get a look, and we need others to step up. York will play center when he is not pitching, and Lakamp, White, Swan and Caldwell could also play in the outfield.

Season outlook: We graduated seven seniors off of last year’s team, and we have a lot of holes to replace. We are very young and do not have any seniors on our squad this season. It will be a year of growth and development, but I think we have some pieces that we can build around in York, Strubbe and Bell. I think we have a young team that is eager to learn and grow together, and we hope