By Chris Parker
New Covenant baseball has improved its win total each of the past two seasons winning 18 games last year. If the Warriors are to make that streak three years, they will have to have new players step up this season.
“We have four varsity starters returning and eight lettermen returning. We will be very young this year with a lot of sophomores getting a chance at significant playing time,” New Covenant head coach David Anderlik said.
Brighton Guisinger is one of those sophomores who will have a big impact. He will be the top pitcher and brings a big arm with strong command. Landon Link (sophomore), Sam Dauber (junior), Kaden Frost (sophomore), Keilynn Armitage (freshman) and Zach Buchanan (sophomore) will also be key pitchers.
Frost and Armitage will be behind the plate catching.
“Both have some experience and are very athletic with good arms,” Anderlik said. “They will be developing on the fly as our season progresses.”
The lineup around the infield will feature Nick Ingle (senior first base), Luke Burlingame (senior second base), Evan Meadows (sophomore second base), Link (shortstop), Dauber (shortstop/third base) and Guisinger (third base).
Look for Nate Martin (senior left field/centerfield), Guisinger (centerfield), Braden Keener (senior right field) and Caleb Cagle (sophomore right field) in the outfield.
Seniors will be looked to for leadership of the young team.
“Nate Martin is the heart and soul of our lineup. He hit .444 last year with a 1.096 OPS. He has excellent speed and has great feel at the plate,” Anderlik said. “Nick Ingle and Luke Burlingame, along with Braden Keener, will all have team leadership roles. All 3 are also seniors.”
Speed and defense will be strengths for this team.
“We will be young but quick and athletic,” Anderlik said. “We will be able to use our speed to create havoc for defenses. We will also be a very good defensive team. Last year we were very solid defensively, and losing some very talented seniors should hurt, but I think we will make up for it with good young players who play the game with smarts and athleticism.”
New Covenant opens the regular season Mar. 27-29 at the Bill O’Dell Varsity Festival in Carthage.
“We want to work hard and have fun while doing it. Guys need to buy into our style of baseball that will give us the best chance to be successful. We aren’t going to pound the ball out of the ballpark, but we will put a lot of pressure on defenses regularly,” Anderlik said. “After a couple of very good seasons the last two years and losing the quality of seniors we have lost, it would be easy to count this group out and call it a rebuilding year. I think this group will surprise a lot of teams. Our goal starts with a District Championship, and the rest is icing. I think this goal is realistic, but it’s going to be a true team effort and require a lot of buy in and a team-first focus.”
