Chargers young but experienced

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Just by looking at the Minnesota Valley Lutheran baseball roster, one would be led to believe that the Chargers are a young, inexperienced team.

With only two seniors on the roster -- one of them going out for baseball for the first time in high school -- the Chargers certainly fit the mold of the aforementioned label.

"It's kinda funny," MVL coach Jeff Schoenherr said. "I think most coaches would look at that and think too that they have a young and inexperienced squad. But for some reason I'm not looking at it that way this year, because a lot of these juniors, they've had a year or two of experience at the varsity level already, so I've got pretty high expectations even though they may be juniors."

The Chargers finished 7-12 a year ago and lost in the first round of the playoffs to St. Peter. With that experience at the varsity level, Schoenherr is confident his team will rally together and have a successful 2004 campaign.

"I'm hoping that when we get out there, that'll take a little pressure off us," Schoenherr said. "You know, these guys do have a year under their belts -- experience -- so when they get out there, hopefully they won't feel that pressure when they're on the field."

Leading the way for MVL will be senior pitcher Dustin Lendt and junior catcher Tyler Morgan.

Lendt is armed with a fastball and a curveball and he also wants to throw a change-up into the mix. Since he was brought up, Lendt has gone through the transition from being a thrower to a pitcher.

"I think a lot of it has to do with my catcher, Tyler Morgan," Lendt said. "He's been on varsity since he was a freshman, so he knows what's going on. Last year, I used to think it was all fastball this, fastball that, but you gotta change speed and you gotta know when to throw the breaking ball."

Lendt said that Morgan's experience is a huge plus behind the plate.

"Without him, sometimes I wouldn't know what to throw because he can see the whole field and know if the runner is leading off," Lendt said. "He knows a lot of the batters and stuff. He's got a little bit more experience than I do."

Schoenherr wants Morgan to be more assertive when calling pitches.

"The big thing I'm expecting out of Tyler this year is that he's gotta take control of his pitchers," Schoenherr said. "He's gotta call the pitches and he's gotta take command of the pitchers."

Offensively, Morgan led the team with a .400 average and six doubles. Schoenherr would like to see his team pick it up in the batters box and become more aggressive.

"I'm putting more emphasis on offense," Schoenherr said. "We've got to get out there and hit the ball. We gotta put a few more runs on the board. We looked at our stats from last year, and that was one area that we definitely wanted to work on."

Sophomore Ryan Sander will play at first base and Jeremy Birr will also see time there. David Sting will play second base and looks to be the team's No. 2 starter. Sophomore Phil Holz will man the shortstop position with Jason Costello at third base. Costello will also see spot duty as a relief pitcher.

In the outfield, Eric Becker, Seth Ferkenstad, Sam Mielke, Andrew Miller, Andy Beilke, and Lendt all look to see time.

MVL opens up the season with a home game at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday against Springfield in Essig.