Experienced Lions excited about baseball season
BREMEN - Optimism abounds for the Bremen High School baseball program as the Lions have a large number of experienced players back in the fold for the 2023 season.
“It is an exciting year for our program,” said head coach Ryan Carpenter, who is assisted by Danny Hostetler, Reece Willis and aaron Perch (JV head coach). “Our guys have committed to getting better during the summer and spring, and we have had about 85% participation from our roster all winter. We return 10 lettermen from last year and our entire pitching staff.”
those returnees include seniors Evan Lopez, Baylor Orcutt and aj ton, juniors Cody Czarnecki, Reece Greene, Kaden Martin, Camden Hickman and Marcos Gonzalez, along with sophomores Silas Laidig and aiden Hunziker. Freshman Zach Rouch is a newcomer to watch.
“We have two college commits in Evan Lopez (John a. Logan Community College) and Baylor Orcutt (Goshen College) on the mound who we are going to lean heavily on. Silas Laidig is poised to have a massive year in the middle of our lineup and we are excited about the way he built on a great freshman campaign. We have some other key cogs from last year in aj ton, Cody Czarnecki, and Reece Greene who are looking to build after their solid first year on varsity last year.”
the Lions are scheduled to play two road games before Spring Break, then jump right into competition again with a four-game week starting on Monday, april 10, with the Northern Indiana Conference opener at South Bend Clay, followed by the first three homes games (Laville apr. 11, Mishawaka Marian apr. 12, tippecanoe Valley apr. 14). Six NIC games will be played at Bremen this season.
“We play in one of the most competitive baseball conferences in the state and are the smallest school in that conference,” added Carpenter. “With that being said, we expect to compete in each and every game. We are looking to improve on our standing in the NIC from last year and challenge for our division title.”
Postseason play will look a little different this year as the Lions have moved to Sectional 36, hosted by Wabash HS. Besides the hosts and Bremen, the field includes Laville, Manchester, Pioneer and Rochester.
“It will be a really competitive sectional with a different list of teams to compete against that we haven’t seen in the past,” Carpenter said. “It is very exciting heading into the year.”