Pitching A Key for MICDS Baseball Team

The MICDS baseball team had a successful 2010 campaign, finishing with a 14-7 record overall and 7-3 in the ABC Conference. That was good for second place, behind Lutheran South.

But the post-season did not last as long as the Rams had hoped as they lost to John Burroughs in the Class 3 District 5 semifinals.

"A district championship is always the main goal and we came up short there," MICDS coach Pete Jans said. "The thing we didn't want to do last year was beat ourselves and for the most part we did that. We lost a game in the bottom of the seventh against Lutheran South on a homer and we had one clunker of a game against Ladue. But it was a good year overall."

Pitching was a strength for the Rams last year with three starters with ERA's in the low three's or under. Two of those pitchers, including their ace, were seniors and are now competing on the NCAA Division I level.

Will Scheirholz (7-1, 1.03 ERA) is at Butler University as he is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Ross Widman (4-2, 3.27 ERA) is at George Washington University.

That leaves junior Adam Putnam as the team's most experienced pitcher. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound southpaw had a very good sophomore season on the varsity. He was 3-2 with a 3.17 ERA and struck out 33 in 28.7 innings.

"Adam can definitely be a top of the rotation kind of pitcher," Jans said. "He has gained a few miles per hour on his fastball in the off season and he looks comfortable on the mound."

Seniors Gary Russo and Joe Strege will also be counted on as pitchers this year. Russo, who was the team's top offensive threat last season, did not pitch much last year because of a sore shoulder.

The pitchers will be throwing to an experienced catcher, senior Christo Meier.

"Christo is a great defensive catcher," Jans said. "He showed so much improvement from his sophomore to junior season."

The infield is going to be inexperienced with juniors Collin Palmer at first base, Matt Bearman at second, Jackson Myer at shortstop and Coby Klar at third base. Klar did start some last year at third when Schierholz was pitching. Myer has some big shoes to fill as he takes over for Jeffrey Clithero at shortstop.

The Rams will be without senior center fielder Harrison Ivie this spring. Ivie split time between baseball and track last year and had success in both. He hit .433 and also won the district title in the high jump. He is concentrating on track this spring.

Russo, Strege and senior Will Johnston will see time in the outfield as will sophomore Peyton Mach and junior Clayton Auddemeyer.

Strege and Russo were big offensive weapons last year. Strege hit .364 with two homers and 16 RBI. Russo led the team with a .446 average and five home runs.

"Gary is a game changer in our league," Jans said. "He is strong and passionate about the game. He is looking to play somewhere next year."

Some pieces are there for what could be another very good year for the Rams but there are also more question marks than in the recent past.

"Last year we were a pretty set group going into the season," Jans said. "We will have to do some mixing and matching this year. We have some great senior leadership and I want to see how the younger guys develop. We want to win the league and see if we can get out of districts."

The Rams are spending part of their spring break in Florida where they have games scheduled Sunday, Monday and Wednesday.