South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Mehlville fields experienced team for 2008

With the 2008 season under way, the Mehlville Senior High School baseball team, which boasts 13 seniors, hopes to bounce back from last season’s 11-16 record.

“We’re going to have to rely on that experience this year because we lost a majority of our production from last season,” Mehlville head coach Bob Kern said. “The guys know what the schedule is, so they know they’ll have to produce and we’ll see how that goes.”

Senior John Brinkmann returns behind the plate this season as the starting catcher.

Brinkmann averaged .338 at the plate last year with two home runs and 18 runs batted in. He also led the Panthers with nine stolen bases.

“John’s going to be our most productive returning offensive player,” Kern said. “We’ll look to him quite a bit in leading our offense this season.”

Another senior who could make an impact this year is second baseman Dan Regan. Regan struggled at the plate last year with a .214 batting average and eight runs batted in, but came on strong late in the season.

“Dan’s a very good defensive player,” Kern said. “He had a really tough start to last season, but he got in quite a few at-bats. The one thing that he’s going to need to do is progress as a hitter.”

Senior Todd Platz will look to bounce back from a season-ending broken wrist after logging just 12 appearances at the plate last year.

But Platz did carry a .364 batting average with one run batted in. Platz also drew one walk and stole one base during the 2007 season.

“Todd got hurt eight or nine games into the year and should be amongst our most offensive players this year,” Kern said. “If he can stay healthy, he can be amongst our top hitters.”

Glenn Grimm will return to the mound after appearing in nine games last season.

The senior hurler was 2-0 with a 5.50 earned-run average. Grimm also will see time in the outfield and looks to improve on last year’s .200 batting average.

“Glenn didn’t hit very well in terms of average last season,” Kern said. “But he’s a good athlete and we’ll look for him to take charge in the outfield and be better at the plate.”

Another senior on the mound this season is Ethan Stenger, who went 2-4 overall with a 4.82 earned-run average in 45 innings pitched.

“Ethan ended up pitching some tough games for us last year and kept us in some games against some tough opponents,” Kern said. “We’re going to need him to assume the role of being a No. 1 starter this season.”

The Panthers will play host to Hazelwood Central at 1 p.m. Monday.

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