By Chris Parker
Sarcoxie baseball has a new head coach in Chris Mettlach this season. Mettlach has previous head coaching experience at Pierce City with stops at Glendale and Reeds Spring as an assistant.
He inherits a program coming off a four-win season. The Bears haven’t finished above .500 since 2013.
Five starters return this year led by senior Carson Torrance (third base/pitcher). Torrance was named first-team all-district and second-team all-conference last season. Last year, he threw 38.1 innings with 60 strikeouts and a 3.10 ERA. At the plate, Torrance had a .442 on-base percentage with 10 RBI. He has signed with Mid America Nazarene.
“Carson will be reliable wherever we put him in the lineup,” Mettlach said. “Carson leads by example, shows up ready to work each day, and does whatever is asked of him. I hope that guys in our program aspire to be like him.”
A trio of juniors in Dugan Pogue (catcher/pitcher), Jesse Law (shortstop/outfielder) and Kade Kellhofer (first base) will also be looked to for leadership.
Pogue was a first-team all-conference selection as a freshman, but missed last year with an injury. He hit .486 as a freshman. Law is a natural athlete who hit .304 with 10 stolen bases last season. Kellhofer hit .457 as a sophomore and will be looked to as a big bat in the middle of the order.
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Sophomore Caleb Chrisman returns to the mound after throwing 18.2 innings last season. Kellhofer is a big lefty with a lot of potential. Pogue and Law each will fill innings on the mound along with sophomore Timmy Arls.
Joining Torrance, Law and Kellhofer on the infield will be Caleb Chrisman (sophomore utility), Josue Dionicio (junior second base/outfielder), Robbie Guenzel (sophomore first baseman) and Dylan Chrisman (freshman third baseman).
The outfield has a lot of possibilities including Chris Lara (sophomore), Dionicio, Braydon Muller (sophomore), Rylan Muller (sophomore) and Arls.
“We have the potential to have a pretty good lineup 1-6 and I hope we will surprise some folks offensively; it will all come down to confidence and execution. We also have a stable of arms that will help us compete and could be a strength down the stretch as they develop and gain experience,” Mettlach said. “We have to improve on a lot of little things right now. A lot of non-baseball things like showing up on time and prepared, attitude, effort, energy, confidence. We are going to have to get comfortable being held accountable. Taking care of the little things will help us build a foundation for this program going forward.”
Sarcoxie opens the season on Mar. 17 at home against Spokane.
“I expect us to compete on our schedule,” Mettlach said. “We haven’t had a winning season in over a decade and have not crossed 10 wins in some time. That’s going to change for us this year. We expect to compete in each game we play in and hopefully surprise some folks. This season will be about building a foundation for this program to move forward.”
