Second year head coach Denny Johns welcomes back just five letterwinners to a squad that lost through graduation a fist full of quality starters in Sam Gardner, Brett Sutika, Wes McGarry and Jed Greslick.
The three senior lettermen that will provide leadership for the Golden Tide are Shane Hoover, Shae Best and Garrett LaBorde.
Hoover returns for his final year after putting together solid offensive stats last season. Moving to shortstop for the 2011 campaign, Hoover batted .338 with 25 hits, and 22 RBI’s last season. Three of those 25 hits were home runs.
In the outfield senior Shae Best hit .305 while gathering 18 hits and 11 RBI’s during his junior season.
Johns spoke of the lost experience from last year’s team, “We lost a lot of two and three year experienced letterwinners to graduation, which is creating a lot of opportunity for this year’s players to compete for playing time. We are looking to solidify ourselves up the middle with returning letterman Shane Hoover at shortstop and Hunter McCracken at second base while Shae Best will be holding down centerfield.”
McCracken, a sophomore, will also be part of the Tide’s pitching rotation. Last year McCracken posted a 1-1 record on the mound.
As always, pitching is the key to success and Johns addressed the issue, “We go into the year with minimal pitching experience with Garrett LaBorde and Hunter (McCracken) our only two experienced arms at this level. We’re depending on Shae (Best), Shane (Hoover), Boone McGary, Eric Little and Kyle Johns to carry a good deal of the pitching burden as well.”
LaBorde was 2-1 for Curwensville in 2010 and finished with a very respectable ERA of 2.58. Little is a senior, McGary a junior, and Johns a freshman.
When not on the mound, McGary (Boone), will be at first base along with Jason Bloom, a sophomore.
Freshman Tanner Elensky and sophomore Brad Coudriet will see some action in the Tide infield. Elensky will be at second base while Coudriet will spell junior Jesse Zorger at third on occasion.
LaBorde, Johns, senior Shelby McGarry and sophomore Jordan Russell will all get time in either left or right field while Best anchors down center.
Behind the plate, when not on the mound, should be McGary (Boone); while sophomore Kyle Bloom will also get opportunities to handle the Curwensville pitching staff.
As of now a lot of the positions are somewhat unsettled as Johns said, “Defensively we still have a number of positions up for grabs. Whoever establishes themselves as a consistent offensive threat will find playing time.”
Johns then spoke about the season ahead, “We’re excited about the year. We definitely aren’t blessed with the experience we had last year, but we’re excited with the potential of this group. They have worked very hard and are anxious to get the season started. We keep telling them to set their goal to get better everyday we’re on the field and that improvement will pay dividends when we begin play.”
Curwensville ended the 2010 season in St. Marys, losing to AC Valley, 6-3, in the District 9 Class A semifinals.
The Golden Tide open the season on Monday at DuBois Central Catholic with the first pitch coming at 4:15 pm.
ROSTER
SENIORS: Bob Adams, Shae Best*, Shane Hoover*, Garrett LaBorde*, Eric Little, Shelby McGarry, Alec Starr
JUNIORS: Boone McGary*, Jesse Zorger
SOPHOMORES: Curt Bloom, Jason Bloom, Kyle Bloom, Brad Coudriet, Hunter McCracken*, Jordan Russell
FRESHMEN: Tanner Elensky, Brett Gardner, Kyle Johns
* Indicates letterwinner
SCHEDULE
MARCH: 28 – at DuBois Central Catholic, 31 – at Brockway
APRIL: 4 – at Harmony, 4 pm, 6 – at Ridgway, 7 – MOSHANNON VALLEY, 11 – at Cameron County, 4 pm, 12 – KANE, 14 – at Johnsonburg, 18 – at Elk County Catholic, 20 – DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC, 27 – BROCKWAY, 29 – WEST BRANCH
MAY: 2 – at Glendale, 4:30 pm, 5 – RIDGWAY, 9 – at Kane, 11 – JOHNSONBURG, 16 – at Moshannon Valley, 4:30 pm, 18 – ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC, 20 – PUNXSUTAWNEY, 21 – CAMERON COUNTY, 11 am
All games begin at 4:15 pm unless noted. Home games in caps.