Marple Newtown Baseball Ready For Another Fine Season

They know what’s coming. It’s going to be every team in the Central League. It’s what happens when you run roughshod through nine teams and go 16-2 in a season. But Tigers’ baseball team says they’re ready, and they have ample reason to think that.

Marple Newtown is expecting a great season ahead. The Tigers will defend their 2010 Central League against Strath Haven, the defending 2010 Class AAA champion, Garnet Valley and star Joe DiCarlo, Upper Darby and Radnor.

The Tigers have a new coach, Steve Smith, who took over for Mark Jordan, who had a lot of success with the program, and can go five deep in pitching, with Rob Gore, Garrett Wrambel, Scott Todd, Jim Schorky and Brian Leon. Add the offense of senior shortstop Kurt Johnson and junior pitchers John Brogan and Pat Magee and the Tigers could have a special year.

“I feel confident with knowing we have five pitchers that we can go to any time,” said Smith, who came over from Bishop Shanahan High School. “They’re all strike throwers and we have some depth offensively. Johnson is a consistent hitter, with speed, and Brian Leon is also a consistent hitter who’s patient at the plate. I’m okay with that. We’re going into every game arriving to compete. We’ll get everyone’s best and find out who we are quickly.”

But Smith will wait to judge where his team stands in the very competitive Central League. But his players know what to expect, having played against the Central League teams. They know what it was like to win the league last year—then lose to Strath Haven in the PIAA District 1 Class AAA semifinals, in what could be defined as an upset. The sting of that defeat still resonates with the seniors of this team.

“I think as a team we all have high expectations and we started a lot earlier this year, because last year is still in our minds,” Leon said. “No one forgets we came up short last year. We should have done more than we did last year. We have to make up for what we did.”

Marple Newtown kicks off its league season Monday at Radnor—against one of the best pitchers in the league, Connor Walsh, who’s committed to the University of Cincinnati for baseball. The Tigers will be missing that one dominant pitcher, like last year’s Chris Kirsch, but their depth on the mound and in the field make the Tigers a formidable team.

“I think that will be the biggest difference. We might not have that one dominant guy but we’ll have a lot of different guys on the mound that can throw strikes,” Todd said. “We should have done more than we did last year and we know it. A lot of people in the community and the school have expectations for us. On paper, we have a lot of guys back from last year."

He continued, "This year, we like the pressure. Last year we knew we could win games. This year, we hope to live up to the potential we have. Our team chemistry is very good right now. If we stay healthy and stay committed to what we’re trying to do, I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”