The Cardinal Huskies baseball team went 11-13 last season, while going 7-5 in the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division, and will enter this campaign with a mix of youth and experience.
The Cardinal Huskies baseball team went 11-13 last season, while going 7-5 in the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division, and will enter this campaign with a mix of youth and experience.
This season marks the second under Head Coach Dan Wolf.
“I didn’t know what to expect last year, but I was really pleased with everything,” Wolf said. “We played a tough schedule, and we were competitive in just about every game. This season will be as successful as our seniors take us.”
There are a number of players who will be key in the success of Cardinal this year on the diamond, two of which are seniors who have been seeing varsity action since they were freshmen.
Senior Carter Tucker, who will see most of his time come on the mound, boasts a career earned run average of 3.64 with 25 career innings pitched. Tucker has racked up 30 strikeouts in his time on the bump.
“I expect a lot out of Carter on the mound,” Wolf said. “He’s going to be our top pitcher this year, and he’s going to throw a lot more innings than he did last year. We lost three arms last year, but as long as he stays healthy and strong, I expect big things out of him.”
Zach Caldwell, Austin Jones, Matt Hissa and Evan Jones will all see time on the mound throughout the season.
The Cardinal catcher will be Hunter Gresch, who enters with a career .304 batting average with 11 runs batted in on 24 total hits.
“He hit over .300 last year,” Wolf said of his catcher. “He didn’t get a lot of RBi opportunities last year, but I expect some good things out of him. He does a good job behind the plate.”
That chemistry between a battery — pitcher and catcher — can be a difference maker through the ups and downs that come within any season, or even games.
“I’ve been pitching to Hunter since freshman year,” Tucker said of his catcher. “We even went down to JV that year to pitch, and we’ve been working our way up ever since. He knows what I want, and I trust whatever pitch he calls, and I have a defense I trust behind me.”
Austin Jones will hold down first base, Hissa will command second base, Evan Jones will play third, shortstop, and pitch at times, while Tucker will see infield work as well.
Caldwell, Reese Soltis, Chuck Soltis, Evan and Cal Ciminello will all patrol the outfield.
The two seniors have the most field time of anyone else on the squad and will look to use that, along with the challenges and lessons of years past, for a run in their senior year.
“In my first two years, I got to sit at third (base) and watch Jake Bean pitch, and that was fun. I got to learn a lot from him,” Tucker said of his few years at the varsity level. “I’m just trying to bring in that leadership and get the younger guys ready for the varsity level. I have to carry the load on the mound, and there’s pressure for that, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’ve pitched a lot of innings in my career. It’s what it’s expected of me.”
“Behind the dish, I just started learning last year. Up to that point, I was self-taught,” Gresch said. “When coach (Wolf) came in last year, he helped me out a lot. He’s been a catcher his whole life and played at the college level. He’s been able to help me out a lot. At the plate, I’ve just been going out there to see what works and what doesn’t.”
Outside of Gresch and Tucker, there will need to be some players to step up. Coach Wolf turned his attention to sophomore Evan Jones for that role.
“He’s skilled pretty much everywhere he plays,” Wolf said. “He didn’t play every day, but he was a freshman. But he won’t be sitting much this year. He should get a lot more at-bats and reps, and he should be pretty solid.”
Cardinal has won a playoff game each of the last seven seasons, all of which have come at the first-round level, and they’re still looking to get over that hump in the District round.
Gresch and Tucker hope this year’s team can eclipse that round as the OHSAA has expanded the baseball divisions from five to seven which slates the Huskies in at Division VII, possibly opening the door for a postseason run to remember.
“With the drop-down to Division VII, the first round isn’t cutting it anymore,” Gresch said. “I don’t even think Districts is good enough. I think a regional or state-run would make it a successful season. It’s going to take us coming together at the right time and having fun. We all need to be together, and a good way to do that is to goof off and have fun.”
Tucker thinks the team can make a run if it trusts the pitchers.
“But we still have to develop more. So, we need to trust the three guys we have, and have each other’s backs and support one another,” Tucker said.
Tucker, who learned from Jake Bean before he went off to play at Kent State University, is looking to take that same type of role with his experiences at the varsity and travel ball levels.
“During Jake’s senior year, he stepped into a pitching coach type of role and was our ace. I learned a lot from him,” Tucker said. “I’ve also learned a lot from my teammates playing summer ball, and I’m just trying to bring my knowledge in here to get these guys ready for varsity baseball.”
The season is right around the corner, and the Huskies put together some big wins last season, giving coach Wolf a lot of hope for this season.
“This is my 35th year coaching, and this only my second year really knowing about this area,” he said. “We should be competitive in our league, and we’ll see what happens. Hopefully, it all goes well.”
Cardinal looked to open the season on March 31 against the Lakeside Dragons in a cross-CVC matchup for Opening Day, while the Huskies visit Kirtland on April 7 for the CVC opener.
