Defense could be key for Bees
Baseball squad should have plenty of pitching, hitting
Defense could be the key to success for Medina’s baseball team this spring. Photo by ALLISON WOOD
Medina’s baseball team is going to hit this year. That was the expectation coming off of 2016 and the Bees showed early on it’s also the reality.
Pitching, and especially defense, may decide whether Medina is a big-time player in the Greater Cleveland Conference and beyond, or something less.
Coming home from their annual spring break trip to Florida, those answers were still in the search queue.
“We started off game 1 and had six guys on the field that had never played in a varsity game,” Bees coach Nick Kaplack said. “It’s going to take a while. But there’s one thing they can do, and that is hit. We haven’t had a team that can hit like this since maybe the 2008 team.
“Right now we’re not catching the ball well. A lot of that might be nerves.”
Medina went 3-3 in Florida, but in two of the three defeats they saw sizable leads disappear thanks to balky pitching and defense, with the latter bearing the brunt of the responsibility.
“What happened there is we could catch a fly ball,” Kaplack said. “It was like something I’ve never seen. We couldn’t play defense at all. So the pitching had to be perfect.”
Pitching and defense have to be at least above average for Medina to make a run in the Greater Cleveland Conference, where just about everyone is good.
Medina was 18-10 overall last season, 7-3 in the GCC, which put the Bees second in the East Division.
The Bees return a ton from that team, including pitchers John Curtis, Chris Fryer, Mike Schirripa, Alex Whittaker and John Kalucis, all seniors.
“Our first line of pitching is pretty good,” Kaplack said. “Once this group gets the defense put together we’ll be pretty good.”
Among players to watch in Medina’s everyday lineup, senior catcher Trace Peterson leads the way.
“He’s a big-time hitter,” Kaplack said.
Others include senior shortstop Cade Pipoly, who could log some innings on the mound; junior designated hitter Aaron Masek, who will get some spot duty at first base; junior right fielder Hunter Havekost; and junior center fielder JT Scoarste.
Kaplack heaped praise on Masek, who at one point was 10-for-14 during the spring trip.
“Down in Florida he was just super impressive,” the coach said. “You couldn’t get the kid out.”
The GCC should be interesting again, with Strongsville and Elyria appearing to have very good squads in Medina’s half of the conference. Brunswick was down a bit last year but always has a good talent pipeline. Solon and Mentor should be good on the other side of the league.
“I think everybody’s going to be good,” Kaplack said. “Elyria has one of their best teams this year. Strongsville’s going to be good. Our side is going to be tough. Mentor and Solon really don’t lose anything. Those are like coin flips when you play them, or 40/60 at best.”
Pitching, and especially defense, may decide whether Medina is a big-time player in the Greater Cleveland Conference and beyond, or something less.
Coming home from their annual spring break trip to Florida, those answers were still in the search queue.
“We started off game 1 and had six guys on the field that had never played in a varsity game,” Bees coach Nick Kaplack said. “It’s going to take a while. But there’s one thing they can do, and that is hit. We haven’t had a team that can hit like this since maybe the 2008 team.
“Right now we’re not catching the ball well. A lot of that might be nerves.”
Medina went 3-3 in Florida, but in two of the three defeats they saw sizable leads disappear thanks to balky pitching and defense, with the latter bearing the brunt of the responsibility.
“What happened there is we could catch a fly ball,” Kaplack said. “It was like something I’ve never seen. We couldn’t play defense at all. So the pitching had to be perfect.”
Pitching and defense have to be at least above average for Medina to make a run in the Greater Cleveland Conference, where just about everyone is good.
Medina was 18-10 overall last season, 7-3 in the GCC, which put the Bees second in the East Division.
The Bees return a ton from that team, including pitchers John Curtis, Chris Fryer, Mike Schirripa, Alex Whittaker and John Kalucis, all seniors.
“Our first line of pitching is pretty good,” Kaplack said. “Once this group gets the defense put together we’ll be pretty good.”
Among players to watch in Medina’s everyday lineup, senior catcher Trace Peterson leads the way.
“He’s a big-time hitter,” Kaplack said.
Others include senior shortstop Cade Pipoly, who could log some innings on the mound; junior designated hitter Aaron Masek, who will get some spot duty at first base; junior right fielder Hunter Havekost; and junior center fielder JT Scoarste.
Kaplack heaped praise on Masek, who at one point was 10-for-14 during the spring trip.
“Down in Florida he was just super impressive,” the coach said. “You couldn’t get the kid out.”
The GCC should be interesting again, with Strongsville and Elyria appearing to have very good squads in Medina’s half of the conference. Brunswick was down a bit last year but always has a good talent pipeline. Solon and Mentor should be good on the other side of the league.
“I think everybody’s going to be good,” Kaplack said. “Elyria has one of their best teams this year. Strongsville’s going to be good. Our side is going to be tough. Mentor and Solon really don’t lose anything. Those are like coin flips when you play them, or 40/60 at best.”