Wildcat Baseball: Rebuild or Reload?
Row 2: Cayden Culvey, Ashton Probst, Gabe Johnson, Elek Fravel, Brady Myers, Aaron Miller, Cayde McCloskey, and Levi Schlesinger. Missing are Kevin Grenninger and Zack Weaver.
By John Lipez
MILL HALL, PA – The 2021 season was an unforgettable one for Central Mountain baseball: an 18-6 record, a District 6 title, a postseason journey all the way to the PIAA state semifinals. And graduation has taken its toll as the Wildcats prep for the 2022 season; the entire middle of the squad has moved on: catcher, pitcher, shortstop, second base and center field.
So veteran head coach Mike Kramer, given those losses, anything coming back? “Although we lost quite a bit of talent (eight seniors), we are fortunate to have players with baseball skill who will be able to set their mark in the Wildcat baseball program.”
A scan of last year’s stats shows two returning pitchers did well in backing up then senior ace Aidan Major, now at West Virginia. They are juniors Chase Brush and Cru Stover. While Major got the bulk of the innings and the toughest assignments, both Brush and Stover put up solid numbers, Brush with a 3-1 record, a 1.35 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 20 innings. For Stover it was a 2-0 mark with a 0.37 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 19 innings.
There were other pitchers with lesser work returning, along with a number from another solid junior varsity team from a year ago.
Three starters in the field are among those back in Stover, who played third a year ago when not pitching and hit .361; fellow junior Gabe Johnson who played first and hit .383, and senior outfielder Cayde McCloskey who hit .281.
The roster, consisting of 34 players, is not devoid of talent. Coach Kramer offered his thoughts in this question-and-answer segment:
Strengths and areas of concern?
Working with this year’s group, the biggest strength of the 2022 team is their unselfishness and willingness to do whatever it takes to help the team. Another strength of the 2022 team is their desire to work hard each and every day.
What do we expect from the Heartland Conference? District 6? The schedule as a whole?
The Heartland Conference is going to be filled with good competition. I know that Selinsgrove, Montoursville, Jersey Shore, Danville, and Mifflinburg are returning a solid core of players. There are multiple teams with quality pitchers, which will be a great opportunity for our team.
The District 6/8/9 Region will be challenging as well. The schools we would be facing in the district/regional playoff have strong traditions in baseball.Our schedule as a whole is filled with solid teams of which we will need to be at our best each and every game.
Goals and expectations:
Goals and expectations remain the same from year to year. We want to improve each and every day. Be better today than we were yesterday.
The Wildcats are scheduled to open the 2022 season at home on Friday versus DuBois at 4 p.m. Varsity home games will again be played at Mill Hall Community Park, jayvee games in Beech Creek.
