2008 Maple Leafs Season Outlook

Goshen, IN — Don’t let the winter weather outside fool you. Spring is just around the corner, and with it comes baseball. Pitchers and catchers are just days away from reporting to spring training in Florida and Arizona, but the Goshen College baseball team has been at it for weeks now.

The Maple Leafs will officially open the season with a four-game series at Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tennessee this weekend. A week later the team on a week-long, eight-game road trip to Florida. The first home game for Goshen is scheduled for March 6th when they host Olivet Nazarene.

In his third year at the helm, Head Coach Josh Keister is looking to improve on the Maple Leafs’ 12-35 (6-16 MCC) finish a year ago. He has a young and talented squad that is eager to prove that they can do just that.

Here is a positional summary and outlook for the 2008 Maple Leafs:

The Maple Leafs return eight pitchers who threw innings from the 2007 staff. Sophomore Aaron Coy is the leading statistical performer (3-3, 6.86 ERA, 41K’s in 42 innings). He was unable to participate in the fall due to knee surgery, but now looks to be completely healthy.

Others who threw significant innings are sophomore Shane Kurtz (2-1, 7.31 ERA), senior Ian Swartz (0-3, 7.45 ERA), sophomore Kraig Miller (3-2, 7.86 ERA), and sophomore Matt Fyfe (2 saves 10.20 ERA). Those who saw minimal action on the mound last year, but expect to contribute more this year are senior Mark Springer, junior Brad Elam, and sophomore Caleb Kitchell.

Newcomers who will see time on the mound this spring are Zach Reed, Joel King, Scott Szucs and Josh Yates. Lost to graduation was ace Dann Hunt who led the team in strikeouts (56), innings pitched (74 1/3), opponent batting average (.237) and ERA (4.72). Junior Aaron Keister will take a medical red-shirt after ligament replacement surgery this summer.

“Dann Hunt was a true number one starter last year who proved capable of beating anyone (World Series participant Lee University) and he will be sorely missed. We have a group of sophomore’s who threw a lot of innings last year, but were inconsistent. Their improvement will be key to this year’s team.”

“The starting rotation is still up for grabs, although Coy, Fyfe, Kurtz, and freshman Zach Reed look to have a slight edge right now. Our pitching staff is very even one through eight or nine so a deep bullpen should help keep everybody fresh during a long season.”

“Senior Mark Springer worked extremely hard on his pitching over the summer and should compliment returning closer sophomore Kraig Miller very well out of the bullpen. Junior Brad Elam is healthy this year after struggling last year due to rehabilitation from shoulder surgery and should provide quality innings either through the bullpen or spot starts. We must throw a much higher percentage of strikes this year as we will not strike enough batters out to pitch through walks. I’m excited about the depth we have and think it will be a huge asset for us.”

Senior Darren Tronovich (.256, 6 2B) will man first base when not catching with sophomore Aaron Coy (.291, 3 2B, 2 HR) getting time there as well. Look for a breakout year at shortstop by sophomore Kraig Miller (.245, 27 RBI’s). Second base is a dead heat right now between junior transfer Greg Meyer and freshman Adam Zehr. Third base is also a toss up with freshman Zach Reed having a slight edge over freshman Thomas Kirkton. Junior transfer Josh Yates has the ability to play any infield position and Cal Schlabach will be a valuable back up at shortstop when Kraig Miller is pitching.

“The graduation of Nate Colclasure leaves a big void in our offense. He was a standout all four years he was here and led us in every offensive category last year. Nobody will be able to account for that loss single-handedly, but hopefully everybody will pick up a small piece of his production. The infield will have a good mix of experience and youth and there will be a lot of competition for playing time.”

“Sophomore Kraig Miller got off to a slow start at SS last year due to a high ankle sprain one week before our spring trip. We have high expectations for him this year as he’s had a year of experience and has added a significant amount of muscle. Adam Zehr and Greg Meyer do a lot of things well at second base and will both see a lot of playing time. Third base was a little bit of a concern this fall and will most likely have a freshman getting most of the playing time there. Zach Reed has a lot of ability and Thomas Kirkton has been a tireless worker over the winter. Between them we have potential to be strong at that position.”

“Darren Tronovich seems poised to have a breakout senior season for us at first base and behind the plate. Aaron Coy was one of our top hitters last year and will see time at both first base and designated hitter. We have a lot of depth in the infield. This will help us demand an intense style of play across the board.”

The outfield will be anchored by two seniors who are both coming off successful junior seasons. Senior Ian Swartz is our leading returning hitter (.352, 9 2B, 22 RBI) and will play right field. Senior lefty Mike Malott (.299, 28 runs) will play left field and lead off. Freshman Sean Doering was a standout this fall and will start the season in center field. Senior Tom McDowell will challenge for playing time as will freshmen Joel King and Scott Szucs.

“The outfield should be one of our strengths this year. While we do not have blazing speed, it is the fastest outfield we’ve had in a long time. Swartz had the good fortune of hitting in front of Colclasure last year and will most likely move to the three hole this season. Malott had his stolen base numbers kept in check last year by a variety of nagging leg injuries, but he’s healthy and ready to go this year. It will be nice to have two seniors toward the top of the lineup.”

“Sean Doering was our leading hitter this fall and has a lot of potential. We look for him to quickly adjust to the college level of play. Tom McDowell sat out last season, but worked very hard in the weight room during that stretch. He should be able to give us quality at bats as our fourth outfielder. Scott Szucs is a semester transfer and Joel King did not play last year or this fall so both are unknowns at the moment, but have looked good in the gym.”

There will be familiar faces behind the plate this year. Senior Darren Tronovich played almost exclusively at first base last year, but will be counted on to catch quite a bit more this year as starter Sean Sears got too worn down last year. Freshman Jordan Kauffman will be our 3rd catcher and handle the majority of the bullpen duties.

“Sean Sears displayed excellent throwing ability last year, but our pitchers did a poor job helping him out. He has had some knee trouble so we will need to keep him fresh by using Tronovich a lot more. Sears showed signs of being an outstanding hitter last year and we look for him to be more consistent. Jordan Kauffman has been a huge asset this winter helping our pitchers prepare for the season.”

“We have sixteen games early in the season against teams from south of the Ohio River. We must stay focused and positive during this stretch as all of those games will be against teams who are better prepared than us because they’ve had the chance to practice outside and play more early season games. Our goal is to peak during the conference portion of our schedule. The conference looks to be extremely tough this year and is led by pre-season NAIA #3 ranked Spring Arbor.”

“We have a lot of returning players in our lineup and on our pitching staff, but that won’t lead to more wins unless everybody has improved. Many of those guys were unsatisfied with a twelve win season last year and have worked extremely hard to get better. One of the main things we have to do better this year is throw more strikes. We don’t have a lot of power arms so we have to be willing to let our defense work for us, not give up free base runners, or hitter’s counts.”

“Offensively we are not going to hit for a lot of power and we won’t steal a ton of bases even though our team speed is improved. However, we should be solid one through nine and not have any easy outs in the lineup as we have had in the past. If we play extremely hard, play selfless baseball, and learn every time we play we have the chance to be in a position to do some damage at the end of the year.”