Dragons ready to hit the diamond
ARGOS - Although the Argos High School baseball program lost a bulk of its lineup to graduation, numbers are high this spring and there will be ample opportunities for new faces to emerge.
“We are looking to be competitive again this year just like last year,” said head coach Joe Kindig, who is assisted by Todd Montgomery, Zach Fisher and Jeff Kindig (stats). “We graduated 70 percent of the 2022 offensive output so we are looking for the seniors and juniors to step up big this year. All of them have three years playing experience (covid year lost for seniors) so this group has been playing together quite well the past several years. And for the first time in almost a decade we have a JV team, so that is a positive for the overall future of our program.”
Returning lettermen include seniors Mason Hibner (Captain, P, OF), Nate Manikowski (Captain, Util), and Devon Becker (OF, P), juniors Noah Van Duyne (C, P, OF), Kyle Bradley (IF, P), Jamin Trump (IF, P, C) and Jackson Kindig (C, P, OF), as well as sophomore Boyd Paul (IF, P).
Newcomers to keep an eye on are sophomores Bradjen Horvath and Bradley Miller, plus freshmen Willy Barenie, Dominic Burns, Conner Miller, Brady Montgomery, Kyle Penn, Ioan Petz, Zayne Ruby, Franklin Sullivan and Braxton Burkett.
The Dragons open their season Thursday at home against Manchester. Games with local rivals Culver Academy (Apr. 29, May 8), Culver Community (Apr. 12) and Triton (May 20) also dot the schedule. Peru has been added after a four-year hiatus, and Whitko too after a long break, as well as first-time opponents Manchester and Hebron. The first Hoosier Plains Conference contest is Apr. 7-8 against South Bend Career Academy.
“We should be competitive in HPC this year,” added Kindig. “We tied for first last year and the upperclassmen want to finish first again this year. It is very possible.”
Argos is part of the Class 1A Sectional 50, hosted by Tri-township. South Central has moved up to 2A, with Westville and Marquette Catholic being brought into the seven-team sectional that also includes Culver Community, Oregon-davis and Triton.
“We feel that we can be competitive in this sectional,” concluded Kindig.