Dutch baseball team has plenty of talent
The St. Marys Area Dutch baseball team has no shortage of talent on its roster this season. While some players lack varsity experience, head coach AJ Meeker shared that he is excited to see what his team will be able to accomplish on the field.
“Because of last year’s cancelled season, we will have a lot of varsity players with little to no experience at this level. However, we have a lot of talent, and from what we have seen as coaches during practice, it will be exciting to see what happens as the season progresses,” Meeker said.
Meeker also expressed relief that there will be a spring sports season this year. Last year, the team did not get to have a season after spring sports were cancelled statewide due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think it was imperative for us to have a season for so many reasons,” Meeker said. “The boys, especially our seniors, deserve to have some sense of normalcy. Being outside and playing a game we all love is going to be good for all of us, coaches included.”
Making up this year’s varsity squad will be five seniors, seven juniors, and two sophomores. Seniors on the team are third baseman/pitcher Garret Bauer, first baseman/ pitcher Logan Bauer, outfielder/pitcher Connor Bressler, outfielder Michael Fitzgerald, and middle infielder Mitchell Reiter. Junior members of the team are first baseman Connor Bullers, middle infielder/pitcher Christian Coudriet, outfielder/pitcher Tony Lewis, middle infielder Cameron McMackin, outfielder Kaden Snelick, catcher/pitcher Conner Straub, and outfielder/ pitcher Alex Vollmer. The team’s two sophomores are middle infielder/pitcher Logan Mosier and catcher/ third baseman Carter Price.
“We are pleasantly surprised to see so much pitching depth on our team,” Meeker said. “How that plays out is uncertain, but we have a lot of arms. Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen a huge difference defensively with footwork and communication, so that might be to our advantage as well.”
The challenge, as Meeker previously noted, will be the lack of experience playing at the varsity level among members of the team.
“We have one player that would have had three years of experience coming in and two others with two years of varsity experience, if you count last year. Everyone else is new to this level,” Meeker said.
It remains to be seen what the squad will be able to accomplish.
“Offensively, we have no idea what we can do,” Meeker said. “The talent is there, but we have to see what we can do once we start playing games.”
The hope is that the team’s season will extend into mid-June and conclude in the state championship game at Medlar Field in State College.
“The goal is always to win a state championship,” Meeker said. “However, we need to take this one game at a time and move forward each time.”
Assisting Meeker at the varsity level this season are Calvin Grumley and Doug Price.
Scott Krellner and Jesse McKee are coaching the Dutch junior varsity baseball team. Members of the squad are sophomore catcher/ pitcher Charlie Coudriet, catcher/middle infielder Vinnie Lenze, first baseman/pitcher Brady Nussbaum, outfielder/pitcher Eli Rippey, and outfielder/ pitcher Layton Ryan; and freshmen middle infielder/pitcher Brayden Asti, middle infielder Vinnie Azzato, middle infielder Lucas Bauer, outfielder Jack Beyer, outfielder/pitcher JJ Blessel, infielder Anthony Nedzinski, outfielder Ben Porkolab, infielder/pitcher Carter Redmond, first baseman Dan Schutz, middle infielder Levi Solada, and outfielder Brody Stauffer.