By Chris Parker
Sparta baseball has a new head coach but a familiar face in Jacob Finney taking over this season. Finney is entering his first season as a head coach and takes over at his alma mater where he was on the team that won a state title in 2003.
“I played baseball here from 2001-2004. We won the Class 1 state championship in 2003, and took fourth in the State in 2004,” Finney said. “This is where my heart is. I love Sparta Baseball. I’ve wanted this position for as long as I can remember. I’m hoping to instill that love of Sparta Baseball into the young men here and help them realize that they are playing for more than just themselves.”
He inherits a program coming off a six-win season that hasn’t won double-digit games since 2013.
“If we are going to be successful this spring, we have to understand our strengths, embrace them, and then use them to our advantage,” Finney said. “Our identity has to be that we have a solid pitching staff and defense, and that we have guys who will be selfless at the plate in playing small ball on offense. We don’t want to feel like we have to score a lot of runs with one swing of the bat, but one or two runs each inning.”
Seniors Walker Loveland (centerfield), Bradyn Davis (shortstop/pitcher), Cameron Holmes (catcher/infield) and Maverick Schnieder (first base/pitcher) will be team leaders.
Finney on Loveland: “Walker is a quintessential leadoff hitter. He gets on base any way he can, and turns walks and hit-by-pitches into doubles or triples with his speed. He also is an outstanding defensive outfielder who tracks down everything from gap to gap in centerfield. He is also a leader on and off the field, who does things the right way, and a great example to the underclassmen.”
Finney on Davis: “Bradyn is a guy who leads by example in the dugout and on the field. He is as solid as they come at shortstop, has a plus arm, good speed, and is a good hitter who led our club in nearly every offensive category this past fall season. Bradyn has committed to play baseball for Mission University next season.”
Finney on Holmes: “Cameron is a five-tool player, and the vocal leader for our team as catcher. He’s one of those guys who cannot just play, but excel, at any position you need him to play.”
Finney on Schnieder: “Maverick is a team-player and will do whatever he needs to do to help the team win baseball games. He gets some spot starts as a pitcher, and is great as a left handed reliever to come in and get outs when we need them most.”
Brendan Brewer (sophomore), Trenton Ingle (sophomore) and Ben Miller (freshman) along with Davis and Schnieder will be key pitchers.
Finney on Brewer: “Brendan throws hard, has a nasty curve and slider, and is developing an effective changeup. He does a fantastic job of keeping the ball down and getting ground balls, but also has the pitch arsenal to strike out a lot of hitters.”
Finney on Ingle: “Trenton is a presence on the mound at 6’3. He does a great job of making hitters miss by mixing up his pitches and keeping them off-balance.”
Finney on Miller: “Ben has the highest velocity on our staff as a freshman, and comes to us with a lot of valuable game experience with the travel ball he’s played through middle school. During the fall season, Ben gave up the fewest hits of any starting pitcher on our staff (only giving up 16 hits in 27 innings). If he can increase his mental toughness, shake off his mistakes, and decrease walks, he will be one of the top freshman pitchers in the area, and one to watch for the next three years.”
Holmes and Austin Humble will be behind the plate catching.
The lineup around the infield will feature Miller (third/shortstop), Davis (shortstop), Conner Robinson (second), Ingle (first), Schnieder (first), Brewer (third/second). Loveland (center), Braylen Luttrull (left) and Talon Phillips (right) will be in the outfield.
“Our strengths will be our pitching, defense, and speed,” Finney said. “We have a good group of pitchers who we can trust to send out to the mound and pitch well nearly every outing and give us a chance to win. Our defense was very good in the fall and looks to just keep getting better this spring as guys mature and get more reps. We have a fast group this season. We stole 94 bases as a team in 24 games this fall, while only getting caught stealing 10 times. We will continue to put pressure on our opponent’s pitchers by taking their focus off the plate and onto the basepaths.”
The offense will need to step up to provide more base runners to cause havoc on the basepaths.
“We have got to be more successful as hitters this season,” Finney said. Last fall, our record was 12-12, losing 6 games by 1 run and we had a combined .212 batting average. That has to improve immensely. Our mindset at the plate has to change, and that is something we will focus on a great deal all spring. We’ve had several guys who have spent a significant amount of time this offseason hitting on their own and taking the initiative to get better. To me, this is a great sign that they recognize where they need improvement, and that we will be on the same page as practices begin.”
Sparta opens the season on Mar. 15 at home against Chadwick.
“I have high expectations for this team,” Finney said. “We’ve got to have a team-first approach from top to bottom and be willing to do whatever it takes to win baseball games. We have the talent to win a lot of games this spring, we just have to have guys buy-in and understand what it will take to compete at that high of a level.”
