Enumclaw High baseball coach Eric Fiedler has the majority of last year’s squad – which finished third in last year’s Class 3A state tournament – back as seniors for the coming 2011 campaign.
At least 15 seniors will enhance the Enumclaw team and the squad’s most deadly threat from the plate, junior outfielder Tyler Carlson, isn’t even an upperclassman.
Last year the Hornets claimed the SPSL 3A crown with a 13-2 regular season mark and finished 20-7 overall.
“This season I suspect we are going to have a very large target on our backs,” Fiedler said. “Teams are most likely going to be throwing their ace starters at us, but these guys are ready for that. They are hungry to achieve even more than they did last season and aren’t about to be resting on their laurels.”
EHS leads off with senior shortstop Michael Lucarelli, last year’s league MVP who is also the Hornets’ ace relief pitcher.
Fiedler admits that Enumclaw still does not boast a dominating pitcher, but instead offers a crop of top athletes.
In the rotation are right-handers D.J. Hitch, Marcus Madden and Levi Gooden as well as lefty Kevin Johnson. Also in the mix are Orlando Hosko and Kurt Kindsvater.
Senior Trenton Disque is again handling the catching duties.
The EHS hitting begins with Carlson, who will be joined in the outfield by Kyle Baumgartner and switch hitting Kyle Thomson, who were both SPSL 3A first-team selections last year.
Although the defensive assignments are far from being chiseled in stone, there is a strong likelihood that Fiedler has already penciled in Eric Koenig at third base and Cody Hughes at first.
The most meaningful hit of 2010 exploded off the bat of senior designated hitter and back-up catcher Austin Grau. The blast was a double down the right field line that scored two Hornet base runners to complete a comeback rally at Sumner High.
“That hit by Grau, more than any other, seemed to put things in motion for us in 2010 and I am looking for Austin to give us a lot more sparks like that one to ignite us again this season,” Fiedler said.
