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well,” he said. “Not having a season last year makes predicting the conference difficult. That being said, I do expect it to be more competitive this year than it has in the past few seasons.”
The Trojans remain in the same sectional this year, although it has been moved to Lacrosse. Triton has many of those potential playoff foes on its regular season schedule this year.
The games on May 3 and 4 ought to be interesting as Triton will host, then travel to Laville on those days.
“I am looking forward to the games against Laville,” admitted Elliott. “I am looking forward to the opportunity to coach against them. The atmosphere during these games will be very exciting and it will be fun to be a part of.”
Argos in the mix?
Argos head coach Joe Kindig thinks his team could be in the mix for conference supremacy and a sectional trophy too.
“I feel our conference winner (Hoosier Plains Conference) is up in the air and our sectional is wide open with South Central moving up to Class 2A. I think we definitely have a chance to win it,” said the fourth-year coach. “We have a lot of youth and inexperience with only one senior on the team (a German exchange student). We may experience some growing pains, but will nonetheless continue on improving daily, pushing each other to be their best and striving to be good students and citizens. We want to see consistent improvement from each player on a daily basis. Each player has individual goals and team goals are still in process.”
Returning lettermen include junior team captains Kole Burkholder (P/ IF), Kurt Johnson (C/P/IF) and Dylan Kindig (P/IF).
“All three saw playing time as freshman at the varsity level and are expected to contribute significantly on offense and defense,” added Kindig, who is assisted by Todd Montgomery, Chris Lacher and Ian Kindig.
A newcomer to keep an eye on is another junior, Jaiden Klingerman (IF/ OF/P).
Academy makes its pitch to opponents
Like everyone else,
Culver Academy has just a few players back with varsity experience, but those that are play a vital position.
“We bring back over 60 percent of our innings pitched from 2019,” said head coach Kurt Christiansen. “We’ve added some new arms and we hope to really challenge the strike zone.”
Leading the mound corps will be senior George Boardman, who started 10 games as a sophomore, with 58 strikeouts in 41.3 innings. Other returning letterwinners include seniors Deven Sukha (OF) and Nate Posner (3B), along with juniors Oscar Stuart (OF/P) and Colin Lasek (C). Newcomers to watch are senior Kyle Kudrna (1B), junior Tim Flanagan (OF/P) and sophomores Luke Grundberg (IF), Connor Schmiedlin (OF/P) and Roman Snedeker (IF).
“I’m excited about this group,” continued Christiansen, who is assisted by J.D. Uebler, Colin Mckay, Mike Pazin and Paul Ciaccia. “There are many new to the varsity with an opportunity to step into a role. The talent and depth in the younger classes is the best it’s been in a long time. (Offensively), I expect a lot of contact and ability to put pressure on the defense. “
One of the highlights to the Eagles’ schedule is a four-team invitational on May 15. The Academy moves to a new sectional for 2021, joining John Glenn, Knox, River Forest, Kankakee Valley, and the hosts, Hanover Central.
Plenty back at O-D
Oregon-davis has a solid core of players with experience.
Returning letterwinners are seniors Jared Bryan, Landon Green, Mathew Beatty, Peyton Norem and Kolton Saylor, plus juniors Cameron Taylor, Josh Yakimicki, Nolan Green, Jake Cooper, Layne Fisher and Bradon Swanson, along with sophomores Conner Danford and Branson Patrick. Freshmen to watch are Connor Frazier, Cashton Swanson, Jerod Stout and Ethan Huitt.
“My expectations are unsure with not playing last year, but we will be competitive,” said head coach Scott Green. “Getting a sectional title for O-D after 45 years would be a great start. We are in the South Central sectional, so that is who you have to go through to win it. We were set back a little by last season’s cancellation. I do not have many players that participate in travel ball so some haven’t played since 2019. If our pitching holds up and they come together as a team as this season progresses, we will be competing come tournament time.”
Green’s assistant is John Danford. The JV coach is Chris Kisela and he is assisted by Seth Huitt.
The Bobcats opened with a doubleheader this past Saturday at South Bend Clay. Looking ahead, one schedule highlight is playing in the Spring Classic at South Central on May 8.