By Adam Morris ’15 | Staff Writer

The boys varsity baseball team has less than a month to prepare for their first scheduled game, a doubleheader on April 5th against Port Huron Northern. The team is excited to get back out on the field after the loss of some key seniors last year.

“We lost some very good players in terms of an All-Stater and Mr. Baseball (Carmen Benedetti ‘13) who now plays for the University of Michigan,” said head coach Dan Griesbaum.  “(Benedetti) had about half of our extra base hits last year so we lost a lot of power along with some talented pitchers and a catcher.”

Zak Moyer ’14 is optimistic about their team meshing as whole this year compared to last year’s team which was powered by individual efforts, he said.

  “There’s no way to replace production like Benedetti with individual players, but top to bottom our roster looks like it has noticeably more depth and speed,” said Moyer.

Griesbaum is determined they will have a strong year with around five starting infielders returning.

“These five need to step up to lead this team and we have to replace those extra base hits or play a different brand of baseball with some small ball, bunting, and hit and runs,” Griesbaum said.

Andrew Eaton ‘14 is confident about the upcoming season and ready to get out on the field.

“We have strong returning talent this year and a lot of diverse juniors who are ready to step up this year,” Eaton said.

The team is competing in the MAC Red which is always a tough schedule because every school they play is twice South’s size.

“We are the smallest school in the MAC Red and are playing against very good competition; these schools have open enrollment with their sister schools (Chippewa Valley and Dakota),” Griesbaum said.  “Any student from Chippewa can play on Dakota’s team and vice versa.”

“Our team has to be very fundamentally sound and we cannot beat ourselves.  We need to play good defense and stay focused even against teams outside our league,” Griesbaum said.

In addition to good defense and fundamentals, the team needs consistent pitching the entire season.

“We don’t have a lot of hard throwers so we just need the guys who pitch to throw strikes,” Eaton said.  “This will be a key part of our success and we need the returning players to step up as well as some guys we may call up from JV to pitch for us.”

The winter weather is going to be a factor in deciding when games officially start for the team this year.

“Our games are going to get pushed back because of the weather, but I think we have the best indoor facilities compared to anyone around and we are fortunate that we can do a lot inside,” said Griesbaum.

Practicing inside is not as realistic as scrimmaging out on the field so Griesbaum has also looked into traveling south to Indiana or Ohio early in the season to play some games in the warmer weather against strong competition.

Last year was Griesbaum’s 30 year coaching anniversary at South and is ready as always for another year of baseball.

“The program has been great to me and it’s been an outstanding 30 years coaching here,” Griesbaum said.

The baseball program  is very appreciative of the Dugout Club.  This club helps with raising money and gathers support from students and parents which has contributed to South’s baseball success over the years.

South has made it to the Final Four five times under Griesbaum, won the State Championship once, and won the District tournament 12 out of the last 13 years.

“Our goals are the same every season: to win the MAC, make it to the final four, and to get better in all aspects of our game,” Griesbaum said.

The team also has four other coaches helping him out throughout the season.  Matt Reno, Kevin Schroeder, Dan Griesbaum, Jr., and John Hackett are all assistant coaches for varsity who all have a very high level of baseball experience, said Griesbaum.

“We just have to do routine things and really push ourselves to win the MAC this year,” Colden Gosslien ‘14 said.  “I’m really confident in our pitchers. They have been grinding a ton and are really trying to become better.”

While Griesbaum acknowledges his pitching staff is young, he is pleased that they have already shown improvement, he said.

“We need to get better everyday and as the season goes on,” Griesbaum said. “That is what we did last year and we were one hit away from making it to the elite eight.”