A young Oconto Falls High School baseball team finished sixth last season in the Bay Conference.
Heading into this year with six starters back, the Panthers aren’t getting any respect.
“I think we’re going to be a stronger team,” coach Charlie Rochon said. “We’re picked to finish dead last in the Bay Conference, and I actually kind of welcome that because I think we’re a lot better than that. I’m expecting us not just to be competitive. Last year, our goal was to be competitive; we were so young.”
Oconto Falls is coming off a 7-12 (5-11 Bay Conference) season, losing six games by one or two runs. Pitching kept the team in the games, but the offense struggled to come up with big hits in clutch situations.
The Panthers lost a senior class that included all-conference second-team pitcher Hunter Magnin, Bo Shroyer, Alex Johnson, Bryce Rochon and Luke Truckey.
Riley Gruetzmacher will be the team’s ace on the mound. Last year as a junior, he threw a no-hitter and compiled a 2-5 record despite a low 2.41 ERA. He had 64 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings and can also play third and first base.
“It’s one of those things where he can decide if he wants to play a position or not and just focus on pitching,” Rochon said.
The Panthers have a good group of catchers, led by returning starter Mike Manns, who can also play the middle infield positions.
Brett Ash, who can catch and also play in the field, will play an important role as a senior.
“I’ve got to find a place for Brett, because he’s a kid who puts the bat on the ball,” Rochon said.
Senior Dylan Woosman is back at first base after dealing with a knee injury most of last year.
Sam Shroyer played solidly as a sophomore in center field last year.
“He covers a lot of ground out there. He’s got quick feet,” Rochon said. “He has potential to be a really, really good hitter.”
Connor Sefcik patrolled right field in 2014 and could be back out there or thrown in the mix in the infield.
Joey Wolford split time at second base last season. His coach noted the senior spent plenty of time in the batting cage in the offseason.
Rochon anticipates that a number of juniors will get a lot of innings under their belt, including pitcher Evan Sigmund, shortstop Tyler Hagemeier and third/first baseman Wesley Brabant.
The Panthers will have to replace their No. 1 pitcher from last year, Magnin (5-1). However, Rochon likes his rotation with Gruetzmacher, Sigmund, Sefcik, Shroyer and Hagemeier.
“I’m confident with our pitching right now,” Rochon said. “Not a lot of these guys saw varsity action other than Riley, but I really think they can step in and do fine. A couple of them had experience last summer playing Legion ball and pitched some innings there, so that bodes well for them.”
Rochon is also comfortable with his defense. He feels his team is going to have better speed this season, but hitting remains a concern.
“We have to be able to hit with two strikes,” Rochon said. “We had a ton of strikeouts last year, especially the called third strike. I hate that. It just kills us. We have to be able to hit with runners on base. When an opportunity comes up, you have to be able to put the ball in play. We can’t load the bases and then finish with two strikeouts. There were numerous times we did that last year, and that just killed us.”
Oconto Falls hit in the low .200 range, but Rochon doesn’t gauge his players’ ability at the plate by batting average.
“We’re going to go to a new system this year where we’re going to go with quality at-bats,” Rochon said. “That tells me more as a coach than a batting average does. A kid can hit .200, but if he’s ripping the ball, eventually they’re going to start to fall in.”
Categories
