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

Young Oakville baseball team ready to play ball this season

Young Oakville baseball team ready to play ball this season

By STEPHEN GLOVER

For the Call

The Oakville Senior High School baseball team was laden with talent last year.

The Tigers’ roster boasted 12 seniors who amassed a record of 12-8 overall and a 5-2 mark in the Suburban South Confer-ence. But with so many seniors last season, this season’s roster has several huge spots to fill.

“We’ve got a lot of new faces,” Head Coach Rick Seim told the Call. “There’s a lot of inexperience where kids on this team will have the opportunity to step up. We’re a little antsy to get a few games under our belts.”

Starting at first base for the Tigers will be junior Eric Brewer, who batted .375, while cranking out one home run and driving in three runs. Besides his first-base duties, Seim hopes that the junior will be able to serve as a starting pitcher.

“Eric pitched last year on the JV team,” Seim said. “We’ll need him to be our work-horse as much as possible.”

Junior Mike McComish will serve as the team’s second baseman this season and Seim looks for the junior to be one of the key cogs to the Oakville defense.

“Mike’s a hard-nosed old-time ballplayer who’s a good hitter and has a solid glove,” Seim said. “He’s going to be the glue that will hold the infield together.”

Junior Ryan Gray will return at shortstop for his second season with the Tigers after hitting .275 last season. In 51 plate appearances, Gray drove in 12 runs on 14 hits.

“Ryan’s one of the few returning varsity players that we have this season,” Seim said. “One of the good things about Ryan is that he’s a little bit bigger and stronger than he was last year.”

Senior Chad Sergent will play at the third base position after batting .239 last year. Like Gray, Sergent is one of the few returning starters from last season’s team. Sergent drove in four runs on 11 hits and had one triple and two doubles for the Tigers.

“Chad started most of the year at third base last year,” Seim said. “He’ll probably hit in the middle of the lineup for us this season.”

Behind the plate for Oakville will be senior Aeric Bauman. Though Bauman saw limited playing time last season, Seim hopes the senior will have a good rapport with his pitchers, something that will be one of the keys to success for this season’s squad.

“Aeric had limited playing time last year as a junior,” Seim said. “He’s worked hard in the off-season and I would like for him to work really close with our pitchers this year.”

When he’s not pitching on the mound for the Tigers, junior Chris Panopoulos will play in left field. Panopoulos saw limited action last season while moving from the J.V to the varsity squad. Despite the limited playing time, he did have a solid 2002 campaign in which he batted a sweet .300 while driving in three runs on three hits.

“Chris was kind of a swing player last year and has some experience at the varsity level,” Seim said. “I think he’s going to do a really good job for us in left field.”

Roaming the center field position for Oakville this season will be senior Mark Sophie, who struggled at the plate last year with a .174 batting average. He did drive in nine runs for the Tigers as he hammered out two doubles and one triple.

“He played quite a bit last year,” Seim said. “I think he’s going to be one of those guys that can give us a little bit of a pop in the starting lineup.”

The right field position most likely will see seniors Chad Vancil and Mike Toro. Vancil has been hot with the stick during the preseason, while Toro is looking to catch up after not playing last season. Seim believes that both players will make solid contributions to this season’s lineup.

“Chad seems to be a hot hitter this spring and we’re expecting him to make the plays for us,” Seim said. “Mike didn’t play last year. He has a lot of raw talent and is a hard worker. He’s out there hustling all the time for us.”

The Tigers will open up the season this Wednesday as they travel to Waterloo for a 4 p.m. showdown with the Bulldogs.

“We’re antsy to play and get that first game under our belt,” Seim said. “I think that it’s going to be good for us to get a game under our belt before the Lindbergh tournament.”

The Tigers will compete in the Lindbergh Invitational at 4 p.m. Monday as they play Webster Groves.

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