Baseball comes north with winning record

Baseball comes north with winning record

By Brodee Gillam
Sports Editor

 

Despite a chaotic preseason, LCC baseball's annual spring break trip was a success. Coming back from Florida, the team survived with a 7-4 record.

 

Amongst a new coach and the usual roster turnover, the Stars had some adversity heading into the season. LCC Baseball Head Coach Jordan Keur said he is grateful for how well his sophomores have led the team early this year.

 

"This year, it's a very mature group of guys," Keur said. "I think there (are) a lot of guys that lead by example and are good (doing) that. … (sophomores Michael) Barno, Wyatt Rush, Grant Jebbia, guys like that have been here for a couple years; also Michael Stygles – the guys tend to follow those four guys.

 

"They're guys that I turned to when I first got here to see where the team is at."

 

Keur said the first stretch of the season is one of the hardest.

 

"That trip is playing 11 games, 12 games in 10 days, so it's got to be a team effort," Keur said. "A lot of guys are playing. A lot of guys are sore. It's kind of a grind of a trip. It speaks a lot about the character and how these guys work and the preparation they put in up to this trip.

 

"I was pleased with how we played. We're still learning each other and I think that was positive out there … (by) putting certain guys in situations and learning how we go. That's kind of the message I've tried to portray to them is, 'We're going to learn as we go and we're going to try and be trying to play our best baseball at the end of the year.'"

 

Sophomore catcher Alex Strickland led the Stars in hits on the spring trip with 13. Freshman pitcher Seth Marano has made two appearances, leading the team in innings pitched (12.0) and ERA (1.50), and is tied for first in wins (2).

 

LCC was scheduled to play on March 19 and 22, but both games were postponed due to bad weather.