Teams Looking Forward To Competitive Season

Thu., March 23, 2000

By Chris Derrick chrisd@spokesman.com (509) 459-5515

GSL baseball

It’s no exaggeration to say that most North Side teams are considered contenders for the postseason in Greater Spokane League baseball.

As Rogers showed last year, just making the six-team district field can lead to big times.

The Pirates tied for fifth place in GSL standings with Shadle Park and North Central, then played their best ball at district. Rogers knocked off Mt. Spokane, Shadle and second-place Mead at district to join champion Ferris at the regional tournament vs. Big Nine Conference teams.

The GSL has become an 11-team league this year with the addition of East Valley. As a consequence, league games have been slashed from 18 to 16. Each team will no longer play every other team twice.

League play begins Tuesday, at five sites. Shadle has a bye until next Thursday.

Mead

Third-year players Dan Stucky and Dan Thigpen lead a team that returns nine members from last year’s second-place GSL finisher (13-5).

Stucky, a switch-hitting shortstop, is headed to Kansas to play baseball. The right-handed Thigpen should be the staff’s ace.

Coach Dave Vaughn has 11 seniors on his roster of 16.

“They’ve played multiple sports together for years,” Vaughn said. “It’s a very, very tight and fun bunch.”

Senior returners are third baseman Dan Staton, catcher/pitcher Brandon Stallings, second baseman Adam Johnson, first baseman Jake Sampson, outfielder Ken Pecka, pitcher/third baseman Drew Lochhead and first baseman Kurt Hibbard.

“We have a very competitive, hard-working team,” Vaughn said. “If we swing (the bat) well and stay healthy, we will win our share. Our seniors must play like seniors to win.”

Vaughn predicted that the league champion will have five losses.

Mt. Spokane

The Wildcats, with a third-year program, have already made great strides. They finished in fourth place (10-8) last year after 1998’s 2-16 record.

Now Mt. Spokane plows ahead with its first batch of third-year players. Leading the list are first-team, all-league infielder Matt Binder and second-team, all-league pitcher Jeremy Smith.

Other seniors with two years’ experience are catcher/infielder Jim Hryniewicz, catcher/pitcher/infielder Joe Kernkamp and outfielder/pitcher Robert Schuyler.

“We have a lot of returning players coming back from our first playoff team,” said coach Dave Whitehead. “If all goes well, we will be battling for another shot at the playoffs.”

Junior returner Todd Schutz is set to move from the outfield to be a full-time infielder. Another vet, junior Kevin Joslyn, will back up Smith on the mound.

North Central

Fifth-year coach Scott Harmon still thinks about how close his Indians came to the big time last season.

NC finished 9-9 in league, tying Rogers and Shadle for fifth place. Rogers and Shadle survived the tiebreaking round and knocked NC out of the six-team district field. Rogers, with a record similar to NC’s, caught fire at district and advanced to region with league champion Ferris.

“The sting of not beating either Shadle or Rogers in our tiebreaker game last year has made us determined to see the district playoffs again,” Harmon said.

Things look Hare-y for the Indians this spring. Their second-team, all-league returners are junior infielder/pitcher Steve Hare and senior outfielder/pitcher Justin Hare. The two are cousins.

Other top returners are senior outfielder Matt VonSteuben and senior pitcher/outfielder Jason Hansen.

Senior catcher Jim McCollum, senior pitcher/outfielder B.J. Moffitt and junior infielder Jason Wederspahn also have varsity experience.

“Understanding the composition of this team, we expect to battle for one of the six playoff spots and hope to surprise a few teams,” Harmon said.

Rogers

Senior catcher Mike Kuck, a second-team, all-league selection last year, holds coach Jim Wasem’s designation as “field general.”

Wasem expects major help from Thomas Gest, a senior pitcher/infielder; Nick Scott, a junior infielder and ace pitcher of the staff; Chad Krebs, a junior pitcher/outfielder; and Aaron Meenach, a senior pitcher/first baseman.

Junior pitcher/infielder Matt Kelly and senior outfielder Pat Doyle have returned.

“We lost three key seniors (all first-team all-leaguers) that will hurt us,” Wasem said. “But the core is still there.”

The Pirates appear to have a solid future, especially with their seven juniors.

Shadle Park

The Highlanders return eight players, including second-team, all-league selection Brett Wideman, a shortstop.

Shadle tied for fifth place after battling early season injuries.

Junior George Bell has moved from third base to catcher. Shadle’s 1999 catcher, Chet Womach, was the league’s most valuable player and now plays for Community Colleges of Spokane.

Also back are senior pitchers Sean Clark and Ben Sorcinelli, junior infielder/pitcher Jerin Harper, senior first baseman J.J. Johnson, junior catcher Cody Rose and senior center fielder Ken Trujillo.

“This group of boys has a strong background behind them in baseball,” said Highlanders coach Ron Brooks. “But at the varsity level, as we all know, anything can happen or change.”

Gonzaga Prep

It’s start-from-scratch time at G-Prep, with a new coach and 12 new players among the roster of 17.

Former G-Prep and Washington State player Greg Gores has replaced Darryl Stephens.

The Bullpups finished in last place, at 2-16, during Stephens’ third and final season. Stephens’ career record was 19-33.

“We are still looking for a mix of players who will step up and contribute at the varsity level,” said Gores, a former assistant at Gonzaga University.

Prep’s senior returners are catcher Luke Machtolf, infielders Ryan Thacker and Cascade LeSage, and outfielder Will Tombari. The other veteran is junior pitcher/outfielder Brandon Bowman.

“We are going to play some young players early and see if they can handle varsity-level pitching,” Gores said. “I look forward to watching this team learn how to play the game and compete.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: Baseball rosters Gonzaga Prep Mac Green, soph. P Mark Dollar, soph.P/3B Derek Redding, soph. P/OF Luke Machtolf, sr. C J.J. Zacher, soph. 1B Dan Falkner, jr. SS/2B Nick Velis, jr. INF Ryan Thacker, sr. SS/2B Steven White, jr. P/OF Josh Schmidt, soph. OF Cascade LeSage, sr. INF Shamus O’Doherty, fr. P/OF/1B John Mantello, sr. P Will Tombari, sr. OF Joe Toney, jr. 3B/1B Josh Thorn, jr. C Brandon Bowman, jr. P/OF Mead Dan Staton, sr. 3B Dan Stucky, sr.SS/P Brandon Stallings, sr. C/P Adam Johnson, sr. 2B Ross Carper, sr. U Jake Sampson, sr. 1B Dan Thigpen, sr. P/OF Mark Lund, jr. C/3B Josh Robinson, sr. OF Ken Pecka, sr. OF Dirk Graham, jr. 2B/P Drew Lochhead, sr. P/3B Kurt Hibbard, sr. 1B Dan Pecka, jr. SS/U Mark Redmond, soph. P/3B Ryan Van Doren, soph. OF

Mt. Spokane Robert Hryniewicz, soph. C Jim Hryniewicz, sr.C/INF Joe Kernkamp, sr. C/INF/P Jeremy Smith, sr. INF/P Matt Binder, sr. INF Wayne Leyde, sr. P Adam Franks, jr. INF Casey Franklin, jr. C/INF Todd Schutz, jr. INF/P Robert Schuyler, sr. OF/P Tim Bowman, sr. INF/OF Jonathan Glover, jr. P/OF Josh Emery, sr. INF Adam Hornstein, jr. OF/P John Kovacs, jr. OF Shane Fox, sr. OF Kevin Joslyn, jr. OF/P

North Central Travis Bouten, jr. INF Steve Hare, jr.P/INF Jason Hansen, sr. P/OF B.J. Moffitt, sr. P/OF Matt VonSteuben, sr. OF Justin Hare, sr. P/OF John Petrie, jr. P/INF Ezra Bocook, jr. INF Patrick Donovan, soph. P/OF Joel Evans, soph. OF/C Jim McCollum, sr. C Jacob Williams, soph. INF Nate Arnold, jr. OF Jason Wederspahn, jr. INF Rogers John Dobyns, jr. P/INF Matt Kelly, jr.P/INF Derrick Wilson, jr. C Matt Booth, soph. P/INF Andrew Borders, sr. OF Nick Scott, jr. P/INF Chad Krebs, jr. P/OF Brandon Bussard, soph. P/3B Aaron Meenach, sr. P/1B Pat Doyle, sr. OF Jamie Almquest, fr. OF Paul Hansen, jr. P/3B Thomas Gest, sr. P/INF Mike Kuck, sr. C Brandon Cannon, sr. P Justin Apelskog, soph. C/OF Adam Ingraham, jr. 1B

Shadle Park George Bell, jr. C Sean Clark, sr.P Brad Hart, jr. OF/C Jerin Harper, jr. 3B/SS/P Jason Hasenoehrl, sr. OF Kyle Hepper, jr. OF Makary Hutson, jr. 2B J.J. Johnson, sr. 1B Ben McCracken, jr. P/OF Jeremy McVay, jr. RF Brad Myers, jr. OF Steve Peters, jr. P/3B Cody Rose, sr. C Mark Schaber, sr. 2B Ben Sorcinelli, sr. P Ken Trujillo, sr. CF Brett Wideman, sr. SS Dave Wilson, jr. P/OF

Deer Park Shawn Henry, jr. P/SS Danny Smith, jr.2B/SS Jared Holman, sr. OF D.J. Creekmore, sr. OF/C Scooter Henderson, sr. OF Colby Parkins, sr. 1B Matt Keogh, jr. C Zach Farnam, soph. 3B Eric Good, sr. P Ryan Dearing, sr. OF Adam Carpenter, soph. 1B/P Steve Barclay, sr. OF

Lakeside Josh Austin, soph. C Jeremy Baird, jr.2B Joe Barcus, sr. P/DH Mike Bennett, jr. P/OF Tyler Broughton, sr. OF Chad Charbonneau, sr. 1B Pat Day, sr. SS/P Reed Fessel, jr. 2B/P Paul Heebink, jr. 3B Nate Hettick, sr. OF Paul Scott, sr. C/3B Greg Smith, fr. SS/2B/OF Alex Spanos, jr. P/1B Josh Taylor, sr. P/CF Jeremy Whitney, soph. OF

Riverside Shawn Johnson, sr. P/1B Aaron Stapleton, sr.P/3B Daniel Loosier, jr. C/P Justin Kapple, sr. P/OF Dwight Kasinger, sr. DH/OF Adam Morris, soph. 2B Josh Daniels, sr. 2B Justin Daniels, soph. SS Doyle Kasinger, soph. 1B/OF Rich Skelton, soph. 3B/P Josh Ng, soph. C/SS David Williams, fr. P/OF Jed Hunt, jr. P

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