Improvement will be the yardstick for Loyal baseball this spring

The Loyal baseball team has a unique challenge to overcome this spring, but it’s probably one most of its opponents will be sharing. After a cancelled 2020 season, the Greyhounds will be almost starting over with a batch of players that has never been on a varsity baseball field.

New head coach Cale Cuddie and assistant Jeremy Brost do have two seniors with experience on the roster, as well as a junior who played varsity ball as a freshman. Otherwise, the 14-man roster includes four sophomores and five freshman, some of whom will be immediately thrust into starting varsity roles. Improvement through the spring will be the yardstick Cuddie uses to measure how things are progressing.

Senior Matthew Szymanski will be a main player for Loyal. He’ll do some pitching, and when he’s not on the mound, he’ll be the starting catcher. He may even end up elsewhere on the diamond defensively, depending on where he’s needed on a given day.

“He’s a pretty good baseball athlete so we can play him anywhere,” Cuddie said.

Brady Robida is another returning senior. He’ll be the usual starting first baseman, although he does have the speed and range to take an outfield spot if needed.

The only other player with varsity experience is junior Deagan Sandelier. He’ll be one of the top two pitchers for Loyal, and will start mainly at shortstop when not throwing a game.

Cuddie has one other senior in Brayan Soto, but he has little experience. The coach said he is developing quickly, and will contribute as the season moves along.

With games being condensed into a shorter season after a late start due to WIAA COVID-19 regulations, pitching depth will be an asset for any team that has it. Cuddie has six players who will see mound time, although four of them are newcomers.

Sophomore Drew Stieglitz will get some starts and long-relief appearances. Sophomore Ethan Lindner will be a late-inning reliever, and sophomore Vaughn Zettler will also be on the mound at times and in the outfield or first base at others. Freshman Jacob Schill is a player Cuddie describes as possessing “a lot of talent,” and he’ll get some first-year experience on the mound.

“We can definitely mold him into a pitcher,” Cuddie said.

Another freshman, Karston Pagenkopf, will also contribute in his first high school season. He can play all infield positions, and will move around the diamond depending on who’s pitching a given game.

That kind of flexibility will be an asset as players develop.

“We’ve got guys that we can move around even though we have limited numbers,” Cuddie said. “We do have a lot of guys who know how to get to the ball. Fielding is definitely one of our strengths. Pitching is coming along a lot faster than I anticipated.”

The offense may be another story. With few players having had a bat in their hand for almost two years and even fewer ever having hit against varsity-level pitching, the runs may be hard to find at first. The young players will also be learning the finer points of baseball, such as base-running, so mistakes might come in early games.

“Hitting would be the area we need to work on the most,” Cuddie said. “That was the hardest thing was getting these guys back to live hitting. That’s been a work in progress for them.”

Although the WIAA rules for this year did not allow practices to start until April 19, it did increase the number of off-season “contact days” that coaches could have with players. That allowed Loyal to get an earlier start than it might otherwise have, which was needed with such a young team.

“Thankfully we had contact days that weren’t considered practices, but we could get together,” Cuddie said. “Being able to have those practices was huge, especially with our incoming freshman class.”

With an abbreviated season and 14 games on the schedule, Cuddie said the Greyhounds will be playing at least two, if not three games per week. That will leave few days for additional practice time, so the development will have to come on the field.

“We want to take one game at a time and stay above .500,” he said. “As long as we keep improving, that’s all we can ask for.”

DEAN/ LESARSTAFF PHOTO