Freeman Scotties Rely On Experience

Freeman baseball coach Jim Straw prefers to err on the side of caution despite a rosy situation.

His Scotties have eight seniors.

“Defensively we’re solid,” said Straw, in his seventh year as head coach. “We pitch, we hit.”

The caveat?

“We still have to go out and play,” said Straw.

Freeman is chasing Colfax in the Northeast A League.

Valley Christian and Liberty play in the Bi-County B League.

The Lancers will join Freeman next year, but right now are hopeful of duplicating last year’s 12-2 second-place finish.

The Panthers are seeking to come of age in their third year of varsity baseball.

Scotties rely on experience

Freeman is resting its baseball hopes on a veteran lineup.

Included are senior hurlers Bryan White, Cody Owen and Jared Pope. They are joined by lefthander Scott Dahlstrom and junior Jeremy Roche.

“It’s the best pitching staff I’ve had since I’ve been out here,” said Straw.

Also back are outfielder-third baseman Bill Morphy, who shares the position with White. Shortstop is Chris Miller, second baseman is Parker Brooks and Jon Brune is a junior first baseman. Catcher is junior Kelly Custer.

Owen, Pope and Tim Anglesey are also in the outfield

Roster players are juniors infielder Chris Fulkerson, pitcher Joe Halverson, outfielder Eric Hendrickson, first baseman Jeremy Schmidt and sophomore catcher-outfielder Nate Brown.

“This a great group of kids and competitively mature,” said Straw. “I just don’t want them to get too big heads.”

Redell answers bell at Liberty

Chris Redell has inherited the Liberty program because former coach Mike Kistler is set to attend school in Iowa come May.

Redell, a Liberty middle School teacher, was Kistler’s assistant the past two years. The Lancers finished one game behind Davenport in the Bi-County League last season.

Liberty’s 18-man roster includes 10 lettermen, but four starters with all-league honors have graduated.

First-team all-leaguer Eric Smith, a junior pitcher/third baseman, returns as staff ace. Junior shortstop Brian Frampton was a second-team all-leaguer last year.

Other senior varsity veterans are outfielder Pat Conley, pitcher/second baseman Chris Schuessler, third baseman Seth Dauenhauer. Experienced juniors are outfielder/pitcher Brandon McCoy, catcher Jon Farka and first baseman Chris Wojahn. Also back are sophomore infielder Derrick Conley and outfielder Ryan VanTine.

New to varsity are senior outfielder Florian Zimmerman, junior infielder Rory Scrimshaw; sophomores are outfielder B.J. Deviny, catcher Cory Howard, pitcher/outfielder James Jydstrup and freshmen are catcher Mike Kuster, first baseman Matt Mullenix and pitcher/outfielder Juston McGuire.

“I suspect we’ll finish in the top three or four and get to the district playoffs again,” Redell said. “But we do have some first-year starters.”

Panthers fill holes with youth

They may be freshmen, but the new Valley Christian baseball players are helping take the third-year team in the right direction.

“This is really our first year that we have a full squad capable of beating some teams,” said coach Dan Ferguson.

In years past he had four or five capable players. Now the Panthers can field nine.

They include junior pitcher Eric Smith, one of the area’s best, and Tyson Lacy.

When not pitching they’ll be at shortstop and are among the team’s best hitters.

Behind them are sophomore Doug Strevenjord at third base, freshman Joey Diaz, perhaps the team’s best hitter, at second and junior Matt Bolster at first base.

Catcher is freshman Derek Anderson.

In the outfield are sophomore Brent Decker, freshmen Ryan Miller and Eric Sparks, lone senior Drew Bryan, and junior Sean Foss.

Others on the team are sophomore outfielders Mike McCarthy, Ryan Bazurto and freshman David Toft.

“Defensively we can do things we were unable to do last year,” said Ferguson. “We have a good mix of youth. It looks good for the program.”

Staff writer Chris Derrick contributed to this story.