Baseball / Sports
Wednesday, February 20, 2013 |
CEDAR PARK: Timberwolves looking for repeat performance
Cedar Park baseball coach Connie Cochrane knows that even with his top pitchers coming back and Lake Travis moving to District 16-5A, the defending District 25-4A champions are anything but a lock for a repeat championship season.
The Timberwolves graduated five starters from the team that went 22-12-1 last season and reached the area round of the Class 4A playoffs, including three infielders and three-year starting catcher Thompson McDougal.
?Frankly, I don?t see a lot of experience coming back when it comes to playing time,? Cochrane said. ?We have some kids who have been on varsity, but have been reserves, who are ready to step up and really help the team.?
Filling those holes has been the first priority for Cochrane during the preseason, starting with the infield.
Amir Alzer, Nick Gutierrez, Nathan Harwell and Michael Dayanandan are all expected to see expanded playing time in the infield this spring, while senior Jackson Paine will take over the duties behind the plate.
Paine will be calling the signals for one of the best starting pitching duos in Central Texas. Reigning District 25-4A MVP, and future Vanderbilt Commodore, Ryan Johnson posted a 6-0 record while striking out 60 and only allowing 10 earned runs in 62.1 innings of work. Tanner Dickerson, who signed with University of Texas-Pan American, posted a 1.69 ERA and struck out 52 in nine starts.
Dickerson will have a big role on offense, too.
?We have our first three set and Taylor will bat third, but after that we are figuring things out and plugging different guys in,? Cochrane said.
LEANDER: Lions ready for traditional rivalries with senior-loaded roster
Traditional rivalries are back for the Leander High School baseball team and, with a veteran roster, the Lions are ready to compete for a playoff spot in District 25-4A.
Leander spent the past two seasons in District 16-5A grouped with Round Rock and Pflugerville school district teams. This season the Lions move down from 5A to 4A and back into familiar territory with their four Leander school district rivals.
?I?m looking forward to it,? Leander coach Matt Grissom said. ?We were in a good 5A district, but this is such a good baseball area and we?re moving into a very talented 4A district, where we know all of the teams. It?ll be exciting for the kids to finally be able to play the kids they grew up with in CPYL and those rivalries will be exciting to watch play out again.?
Last season Leander went 6-12 in District 16-5A and finished three games out of a playoff spot. This season the Lions are contenders for one of District 25-4A?s four playoff spots with a roster loaded with seniors ? 17 of them.
?I really enjoy being around this group, we?ve got a lot of guys who have that varsity experience and want to win,? Grissom said. ?I?m just excited to be able to have so many guys that care and love to play baseball in this program.?
The Lions do have some holes to fill. They graduated seven seniors last season, but that competition to fill those roles has been a learning tool Grissom has used to prepare for the season.
ROUSE: Raiders hoping to take overall athletic success on to the diamond
As a whole the Rouse athletic program has taken giant strides this season, finally evening the playing field and taking advantage of experienced athletes who have played varsity sports since they were freshmen or sophomores.
Rouse baseball coach Paul Cochrane plans to follow that same blueprint this season.
?We?ve got a lot of experience, especially since most of the guys are now seniors who helped open the school,? Cochrane said.
Last season Rouse missed the playoffs by one game, losing to Marble Falls in a head-to-head battle for the final playoff spot after going 4-8 in District 25-4A. This season the Raiders have goals of reaching the playoffs and with 10 seniors return most of the core group from last season.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, they?ll be without University of Texas at San Antonio-bound pitcher and outfielder Logan Kinder, who will miss the entire season with an injury. Kinder had a 2.43 ERA and struck out 57 on the mound and batted .357.
?That?s a big hit,? Cochrane said. ?You can?t go and replace a guy like Logan, but some of the other guys are stepping up and we are starting to see the full team come together during our past couple of scrimmages.?
VANDEGRIFT: Vipers ready to take next step as a program
One game was all that separated the Vandegrift baseball team from reaching the playoffs last season.
The Vipers finished in a three-way tie for third place in District 25-4A with Rouse and Marble Falls, with the Mustangs ultimately reaching the postseason after winning the head-to-head battles.
This season Vandegrift is ?heads and shoulders? ahead of where it was the previous three seasons, and coach Christopher Seaman expects his team to turn the corner and make the playoffs.
?Our guys have been working hard and are way ahead of where they were the past three years,? Seaman said. ?We have seven guys who are four-year lettermen and we have that maturity and the fight you really want to see out of team. When you start a new program you hear it takes six years to really get there. Well, this is year four and I think we are right where we need to be.?
Vandegrift showed flashes of that last season after winning one-run games against playoff-bound teams Lake Travis and Vista Ridge, but still felt the growing pains and finished 8-18 overall and 4-8 in district play.
?We were one game from making the playoffs last season, I don?t think that?s something people realize when they look at our record,? Seaman said. ?The kids have a taste of being that close now, it?s really the time for them to take it.?
VISTA RIDGE: Rangers hoping to compete for district title
The Vista Ridge baseball team spent the preseason working out the kinks and filling in some of the holes left be graduation.
Now, it?s time for the Rangers to focus one task, playing solid baseball.
?We graduated several key players and we have some people filling in and taking those roles,? Vista Ridge coach Jason Bourgeois said. ?But, that?s starting to figure itself out and now we are just getting the kids to play good baseball every day.?
And if Vista Ridge can play ?good baseball? for the rest of the season the Rangers could be competing for the District 25-4A title.
Vista Ridge went 17-14 last season and 7-5 in District 25-4A, and return reigning offensive MVP Dylan Bein who has committed to play college baseball at Texas State.? Bein will also be the cornerstone of the Rangers? pitching staff which will include Alek Lando, Brett Burrington and Tyler Ziemann.
?We?ve got a pretty reliable pitching staff and some guys who have the experience you need to go out and win games,? Bourgeois said. ?Now we?ve been just nailing down fundamentals on offense and defense during scrimmages, and we?re pretty close to being the team we need to be.?
Source: http://cplstatesman.com/2013/02/20/2013-leander-school-district-baseball-previews/
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