In second year, Berkman ‘excited’ for young lineup
Lance Berkman is banking on a youth movement.
The second-year Houston Christian coach went heavy on freshmen to better last season’s 18-36 record.
“It wouldn’t take a whole lot to improve from last year,” Berkman said. “I’m excited about the group that we have. We have a young team. That was one of the things we wanted to do.”
The Huskies do have a good core of returning players like senior Austin Roccaforte (Tomball Memorial) and Parker Edwards, who led the Huskies with eight home runs. But Berkman was looking for reinforcements who are ready to make immediate contributions.
Berkman recruited almost exclusively from high schools, using the junior college ranks and transfer portal to supplement the roster.
“As a consequence, we’re going to be playing a lot of young guys that are talented and will be fun to watch,” Berkman said.
Five freshman position players are expected to potentially start, including catcher Dylan LaRue. Damian Ruiz will likely start in right field and Trent Baker (Klein Cain) is getting a hard look in center field. Cash Benavidez will play in the infield. Luke Bard is also a catcher, and it will be hard to keep his bat out of the lineup.
“All those guys are athletic, they know the game,” Berkman said. “They play above their years. They play like mature players.”
Freshmen righthanders Baylor Baumann and Jonathan Valdez (Cypress Falls) profile as starters. Righthanders Nolan Wilson and Daniel Farrow have more bullpen-type arms.
Roccaforte is the Huskies’ best returnee and can play a variety of positions well. He started in center field in 2022 and is now playing shortstop, and will move to second base once the projected shortstop becomes healthy.
Edwards will hit in the middle of the order. Tyler LaRue started to hit well last year before getting injured. Logan Letney will contribute in the outfield. Third baseman Reed Chumley is expected to have a rebound year at the plate.
With the influx of freshmen and transfers, HCU has gotten more athletic and will be more active on the bases.
Rye Gunter, a righthander, is the Huskies’ starter on Friday, beginning a three-game series at UTRGV. Gunter, who has worked through arm issues after starting his career at LSU, has a good fastball and breaking ball with movement. Righthander Texas A&M grad transfer Walker Zander (Memorial) will start on Saturday.
“We just have to look at what’s in front of us and know that we have a chance to do something great this year,” Zander said. “We have the talent to do a lot.”
Righthanders Matthew Charles and Will Ripoll should benefit from having a year of experience. Both pitched in 2022 after missing the 2021 season with injuries.
“We’re looking really good,” said Zander, who has reached 95 mph on his fastball. “We have a lot of guys competing for the same spots. That’s what you need to be a successful team. Everyone has what it takes to compete at this level or they wouldn’t be here.”
Houston Christian played well at times last season. The Huskies were competitive in the Southland, going 11-13 in conference, before dropping their final six games in the SLC and both games in the conference tournament.
“We want to change that,” Ruiz said. “We’re taking initiative in things we want to get done and what we want to see done. I think our offense is going to win us a lot of games. Everybody can really hit.”