Coleman Should Rule M-O Baseball...Again! Seeks 3rd Title In 4 Seasons
With their entire lineup returning from a 21-2 campaign, the Coleman Cougars are heavy favorites to repeat as M-O Conference champions.
After making their second state trip in school history, coach Kent Casper and his diamond gang are looking for bigger and better things. The Cougars notched their 4th M-O baseball title last spring, putting together a 10-0 league mark and should duplicate that feat this year.
And why not! With all 9 starters back and dropping down to Division 4 for post-season play, everything points towards the Cougars finding plenty of diamond success.
“Every year is different and the kids know what is ahead of them. If our pitchers throws strikes, don’t walk people, we play good defense and hit the ball, then we’ll be okay,” Casper said.
“We are dealing with some injuries as Mitch Mergener had hernia surgery and should be ready by mid-April while Dexter Karban, who we thought could take Mitch’s spot until he returns, is going to have meniscus surgery on his other knee this week.”
Leading the list of returning players are a handful of first team all-conference performers, highlighted by junior pitcher Mason Mergener, who was the MVP with a 5-0 record. Mergener had some impressive stats giving up only 9 hits and 9 walks over 25 1/3 innings while striking out 33.
The remaining 4 elite players are all seniors, catcher Jake Engels, first baseman Trevor Bushmaker, shortstop Mike Mergener and first team all-state outfielder Mitch Champagne.
Coach Casper will also welcome back all-conference selections Mitch Mergener (2b), Lucas Markiewicz (rf) and sophomore Trevor Seewald.
Toss in talented and hard throwing junior righthander Derek Marquardt and Casper has plenty of options on the field and at the plate.
Coleman opens the season Thursday at Freedom then return for a pair of homes games, hosting Kewaunee Saturday, March 31 at 1pm and Bonduel on Tuesday, April 3.
“We got some very tough teams on our schedule to open the year, which will be a good test for us,” Casper concluded.
Wausaukee Could Be
Force In M-O Circuit
Entering his 13th year as the Ranger boss, coach Bill Wickman will welcome back 8 letterwinners, including 7 starters, to a squad that finished 11-9 overall last year and 5-5 in the M-O Conference.
Heading the list of seniors back for their final year are infielders Austin Carter, Brett Edlbeck and Joe Jaworski along with junior Cole Lewandowski and sophomores Eddy Self, Brennen Gabriel and Beau DeLaet.
Looking at his team’s strengths, Wickman said “pitching, defense and team speed” will be key while “consistent hitting and overall team depth” could cause some concerns.
Heading the pitching staff are righthanders Edlbeck and DeLaet while southpaw Lewandowski will get his turn on the hill.
Gone from last year’s squad are honorable mention catcher Branden Forst and second team M-O pitcher Cutler Lewandowski.
The Rangers host Norway Friday at 4:30pm and entertain Goodman-Pembine on Tuesday, April 3.
Looking ahead to conference play, Wickman sees Coleman as the favorite to repeat followed by Peshtigo.
Robbins, Peshtigo To
Rely On Young Players
Peshtigo coach Pat Robbins has had to put in overtime trying to replace four starters and his top two pitchers for the upcoming season.
Heading into his 19th year, Robbins saw his troops compile a 14-6 overall record last season, 7-3 in the M-O.
Gone are the one-two mound punch of Chris Mylener and Adam Thill, who absorbed most of the innings last year. Also missing are catcher Tyler Marquardt and first sacker DJ Koronkiewicz.
Heading the list of returning starters are seniors Joey Sparks (cf), catcher Cody Nielson and outfielder Nick Sparks. A trio of juniors will help ease the transition in shortstop Trevor Bero, first sacker Derek Koronkiewicz and leftfielder Tom Quigley.
The rest of the line-up will probably feature sophomores, especially on the mound, where Jordan Berth and Zack Neumann will get the call.
Berth made a few appearances on the hill last spring while Neumann concentrated on track. This year Neumann is expected to split time between baseball and track, with track being his primary sport.
“Jordan should be a solid pitcher for us while Zack will play as along as there aren’t any conflicts with track. Both pitchers have thrown the ball well so far, we need to get outside and some game action, ” Robbins said.,
Other promising players are Dakota Keller (2b), Matt Borkovec (3b/p), Derek Maye (of), James Brabant (if) and Gunner Kinney (c/if).
Peshtigo has a tough slate to open the season with 4 games in 5 days. Coach Robbins will take his troops to Marinette on Thursday, March 29, play a doubleheader at Shawano on Saturday, March 31 before hosting Marinette on April 3.
Looking at his team, Robbins commented... “defensively with Nielson, Bero and Sparks up the middle should be one of our strengths. We have a tough pre-season schedule for a young team.”
Numbers Down For
Crivitz Baseball
It is a good news/bad news story for Crivitz coach Jeff Dorschner and his baseball team.
A total of 14 players signed up to play baseball this year, but the good news is 7 of those players are returning letterwinners. In his third year at the helm, Dorschner saw the Wolverines put together a 10-14 overall record and finish 5-5 in the M-O.
Seniors making their way back onto the field are catcher Tyler Wieting and outfielder Tyler Osmanski along with a trio of talented juniors in southpaw pitcher AJ Garcia, infielders Cody Wolf and Parker DeLos Santos. Two sophomores looking for playing time are outfielders Spencer Schwartz and Danny Tomaszewski.
Team speed and infield defense will be strengths for the Wolverines while hitting, pitching, experience and depth are weaknesses that need to be worked on.
Other players eying time are senior Randy Martin, juniors Jed Nelson and Brad Shearer, sophomore Tim Sotka and freshmen Colton Lange and David Poh.
Dorschner sees his squad finishing in either 4th or 5th place in the final conference standings.
Nelson Is New
Coach At Gillett
A new coach will try to jump-start Gillett, which returns 9 letterwinners, including 6 seniors.
Pat Nelson took over the post from Don Olderman and will look to his experienced players to get things rolling early.
Six of his returning players are seniors in catcher Brad Mueller, Brady Hicks, Tyler Hischke, Seth Rudie, Mike Scharenbrock and Drew Patenaude. Sophomores seeing plenty of playing time are Derek Zahn along with Bryce and Jeremy Cibulka.
The rookie coach said “speed, pitching and experienced team” will be the strengths of this year’s squad as he expects to go 5-5 in the M-O.
Other varsity prospects include juniors Alex Ransom and Aaron Crocker along with sophomores Wade Wasmund, Cody Lindal, Eric Fischer, Korey Badeau, Justin Pieper and Matt Noffke.
Titans Strong Up The
Middle, Lack Depth
With only 12 players in the program, the Lena-STAA Titans will rely on 7 returning letterwinners to key this years attack. Entering his 12th year as head coach, Rick Hofer has just one senior to put in the lineup.
Heading the list of returnees is senior outfielder Dean Jopek, four juniors in Landen Maccoux, Dom Ramirez, Bill Howe and Hunter Maloney.
A couple of talented sophomores will provide help in shortstop/pitcher Kiefer Powers and infielder Jameson Bardowski.
Other prospects are junior John Palenica, sophomore Alex Votava and freshmen Mitch Harvey, Jacob Jones and Justin Miller.
“We will be solid up the middle with catching and shortstop along with number one pitcher Maccoux,” Hofer said. “We lack on the corners, infield and outfield, pitching depth, overall depth and are young again.”
The Titans open the season with a pair of home games hosting Goodman-Pembine Friday, March 30 and White Lake on April 3.
Goodman-Pembine
Returns 6 Starters
With six starters back in the fold, highlighted by the senior mound duo of Austin Lorenz and Dillon Church, the 2012 version of the Patriots should be successful on the baseball diamond.
Coach Kris Johnson and his staff will open the 18-game schedule on Friday, March 30 with a trip to Marinette to take on the STAA-Lena Titans at 4:30pm.
Other returning starters are Brody Millan, Roman Grebin, Craig Kowalkowski and Jacob Garrelts.
Varsity prospects looking for playing time are junior Cody Metras, sophomores Bob Hawley, Trent Heath and Jevan Lucena along with a pair of impressive freshmen in Mike Bruce and Randall Bose.
“I think one of our strengths this year is our experience at the pitching position. Lorenz and Church have done some good things for us on the mound in the past couple of years and we hope to see some of the same this season. Also, Heath and Grebin pitched some important innings for us last year and may have to do the same this season,” Johnson said. “I feel like we have a nice core of experienced players coming back and we should be able to put some runs on the board when needed.”
Missing from the Patriot lineup will be a pair of standouts who graduated...Kevin Kowalkowski and Grant Rocque.
“Kowalkowski was a great all-around player and catcher while Rocque drove in the most runs last year,” Johnson added. “We are lacking experience in the catching position as Kowalkowski was a 3 year starter and need to focus on developing that position.”
Following the Friday opener, the Patriots head to Wausaukee on April 3 and Crivitz April 5 before starting Northern Lakes Conference play on April 10.
“Florence and Crandon are always well-coached and seem to be the teams to beat. I don’t see it being much different this year,” Johnson concluded.
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