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

Tigers baseball team looking for success

It’s been said that defense and solid pitching win championships.

The Oakville Senior High School baseball team hopes that, along with some timely hitting, will be a recipe to success.

“From what I’ve seen so far, we’re going to be a team that plays solid defense with a pitching staff that throws strikes,” Oakville head coach Rich Sturm told the Call. “One thing we’re going to have to do in order to win is that we’re going to have to manufacture runs.”

Oakville’s catching duties will go to senior Dan Rohlfing, a three-year starter who played at third base last season. Rohlfing held down a .386 batting average with eight doubles, two triples and 19 runs batted in.

“Dan was one of our leading hitters last year,” Sturm said. “He’s looked outstanding behind the plate this season and has a strong arm and great feet.”

At shortstop for the Tigers will be senior Cody Terry, who’s also a three-year starter. Terry batted .296 with five doubles, three triples and 10 runs batted in.

“Cody’s a consistently steady ballplayer,” Sturm said. “He hits the ball to all fields extremely well and has a very accurate throwing arm.”

In left field for Oakville will be senior Blake Carrigan, who batted .288 with one double, three triples, one home run and eight runs batted in.

“Blake is someone we’re looking to bat at the top of the lineup,” Sturm said. “One of his assets is that he’s got a much stronger arm that most left fielders. On most teams he would be a center fielder.”

The centerfield duties for the Tigers will go to senior Brian Hipp, who struggled at the plate last year with a .182 batting average with one triple and two runs batted in.

“Brian started six or seven games as a junior and it looks like he’ll start the year as our center fielder,” Sturm said. “He’s got a good throwing arm and we hope that he hits for power because he made great strides at the end of last season and into the summer.”

Senior Brett Deters will see time on the mound for the Tigers after appearing in six games last season with a 2-3 record and a 3.76 earned run average.

“Brett’s a guy that has a good changeup,” Sturm said. “He thrives on keeping the hitters on the other team off-balance.”

Another senior who will see time on the mound this season is Alex Hrebec, who posted a record of 2-1 and an earned run average of 6.07 in nine games pitched.

Oakville opens the season in the Lindbergh/Mehlville Tournament against Fox at 4 p.m. Monday at Heine Meine Field.

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