Palm hoping to light competitive fire under Leopards
After taking one quick glimpse at a team that is coming off a 4-16 season and has lost seven seniors to graduation, you might think a rebuilding year is lying ahead. Just don’t mention that around Belle Vernon baseball coach Dan Palm.
“I hate the word rebuilding,” said Palm. “Especially when it deals with high school sports because you can go from bad to good in just one year. You never really know what is going to happen. All of our focus is on this season and we’re just trying to find the right players.”
The Leopards are hoping to return to the playoffs after having missed out on post-season play four years in a row.
Palm is entering his second season as the head coach at Belle Vernon after spending two seasons as the baseball coach at Albert Gallatin.
“We expect to compete,” said Palm. “Last year we had some trouble competing and our goal this year is to be in a position to win every game that we can. And for our seniors we’d love to be able to get them into the playoffs.”
Among the key returning players for Belle Vernon are pitchers Sam Basham and Jordan Lexie. Basham.
Basham, a sophomore, returns as the ace of the Leopards staff after being one of the team’s top starting pitchers as a freshman.
Bashiam and Lexie will be joined in the rotation by Dave Peischeitti and junior Bryan Levi, who are both new to the staff. The final member of the rotation is a player who Palm described as his teams X-factor in 2007, junior southpaw John Zites.
Zites is returning from a severe concussion after being struck by a line drive in batting practice.
Among the top returning position players are sophomore shortstop Jacob Cramer, who spent last season behind the plate, and third basemen Brett King.
Cramer was one of the Leopards most productive hitters in 2006 as he finished the season with an impressive .460 batting average.
The Leopards are also ready to welcome back second basemen Tyler Shutterly, who missed last season with a shoulder injury.
While the infield positions are all pretty much locked down, the Leopards still have a number of questions to answer in regards to their outfield situation where Palm has as many as eight players vying for playing time at the three spots.
“We’re just trying to find the right mix,” said Palm. “We’ll see how things shake out in the early games and we’re just looking for the right players that bring all the right things to the table offensively, defensively and with the intangible things like base running.”
The Leopards open section play on Monday, April 2 at Thomas Jefferson. Their first home game is on Wednesday, April 4 against West Mifflin.