Bayside Chatter: Take me out to the ball game

Talk about it

The Mariner baseball team has already been outdoors a couple of weeks and it’s only the first week of April. Last season they finished with an overall record of 11-6 and were 6-4 in conference play good for third place in the Polar League. Key losses to graduation were starting pitcher Ryan DeShaw, now at Fond du Lac College, and infielder Warren Carter.

The Mariner pitching staff this season will consist of Daniel Wilson, Joanh Koehler, Luke Small, and Zack Duresky. Others may develop as the season progresses. First base will start out as Chad Smuk and Cody Larson depending on their availability. The rest of the infield will have Luke Small, Jonah Koehler, Zack Duresky, and Daniel Wilson. The outfield will be a combo of Cody Larson, Brock LeBlanc, Zack Duresky, Troy LeBlanc, and Marcus Small. Freshman Jordan Fralich returns behind the plate.

Offensively the team returns five batters who finished above .300 in batting average. Fralich came in at .462, Luke Small at .386, Wilson at .362, Koehler at .324, and Larson at .314. Small and Larson are the top returning RBI leaders.

The Mariners first game is Tuesday as they host Carlton. Moose Lake is probably the favorite in the conference once again due to their size. Other than that, it appears to be a crap shoot as to who will emerge from the pack.

Track and field

At the Polar League indoor meet held at the University of Minnesota Duluth, the Mariners came away with three first place finishes. Abby Michels tied for first in the 60 yard dash with a time of 7.71 and took first in the 400 yard run with a time of 1:07.5. Kyle Blood also took first in the 400 yard run with a time of 56.2.

Anna Carman made the Section 7 high performance 16 team and Rebecca Dilley made 17 team for Section 7.

Section 7 finished in second place in the Great 8 tournament with a 4-3 overtime loss to section three in the championship game. Earlier they had beaten section six 6-3 in the quarterfinals and section five 4-2 in the semis.

Tags: silver bay, sports