Baseball: G-Prep’s Dave Kries pours energy into game

Some baseball players are born with natural ability. Others have to work at it.

When natural talent is blended with an unquestioned work ethic, the result is a player like Gonzaga Prep senior pitcher and left fielder Dave Kries.

“He came to us as a sophomore as a shortstop,” said Bullpup coach Greg Gores. “Last year, we moved him into the outfield. We’ve asked him to do a couple of different things. He’s become more of a well-rounded player that way.

“He’s turned into a real good outfielder. He was an all-league guy last year, not because he knew what he was doing, but because he worked at it.

“He tracked a lot of baseballs in the outfield and learned how to get a jump on the ball, catch balls in the alley, cut balls off and do all those little things that you kind of take for granted that he certainly didn’t have going in. His defensive side has really evolved,” the coach said.

Last season, Kries’ defensive abilities matched his offensive skills, where he has been one of G-Prep’s leading hitters since making the varsity team his sophomore season.

“He could always hit,” said Gores. “He could hit as a freshman, and he’s always been able to put pretty good swings on balls.”

While always being a good pull hitter, the right-handed-hitting Kries has greatly increased his ability to hit to the opposite field.

“I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve improved on so far in high school,” said Kries. “I’ve always been a pull hitter, but especially in the last two years, I’ve started to go with the pitch a little bit and take it the other way.

“That’s the key in the GSL. Everyone pitches away, fastballs away. Nobody likes to come inside. Few pitchers in the league do. You’ve just got to know your pitch count and know what the tendencies of the pitcher are. Then a lot of it is just reaction.

“If it’s an 0-2 pitch, you’re probably going to see a fastball outside or a breaking ball off-speed. Learning the count’s the biggest thing,” Kries said.

While becoming an all-league outfielder in the Greater Spokane League last season, Kries worked in the off-season in hopes of becoming an all-GSL pitcher.

“His pitching has evolved for us,” Gores said. “He was a guy who we really didn’t expect to pitch. He was kind of the odd man out most of last year.

“Then he ended up pitching a ton last summer and did a great job, and it’s carried over a little this spring, although he’s had some arm trouble that we’re dealing with. He’s certainly a guy who we are going to count on down the stretch on the mound to give us quality innings,” the coach said.

“The biggest thing is he learned how to throw his breaking ball for strikes,” continued Gores. “Then he learned how to pitch with confidence.

“That is a learned trait. Once a kid learns how to locate and change speeds, then he can really understand how to get guys out. That’s where David has really improved.”

Kries was a safety and punter on the GSL champion Bullpup football team last fall, and he hopes the winning ways of the fall will follow the baseball team down the stretch this season, like the team experienced at last spring’s district tournament.

“We ended up making it and had a decent seed going in,” Kries said. “I don’t know what happened, but we got rallied up and ended up beating Mt. Spokane. That was a huge win for us. We should have beat Mead, but we didn’t come through.

“It was a good thing for us to finish the season doing better than when we started – that’s for sure,” Kries said.

“I hope we get on a roll now and get a winning streak going and then do some damage in the district tournament.”