The Garfield G-Men baseball team may be senior-laden this year but will field a senior class where half of the upperclassmen are playing at varsity level for the first time this season. Coach Michael Paes noted that they are ready to meet the moment.
“We have a lot of guys that are anxious to try to excel at the varsity level, so they are ready to go,” added the 12-year coach. “The players want to take their turn and have it be their turn. I think a lot of guys on the team now want their turn and are excited for their turn.”
Garfield only graduated three players from last year’s team and return six players who played significant varsity innings, including senior right-hander/outfielder/third baseman Garet Warnick, senior catcher Brock Pesicek, senior shortstop Brandyn Bogucki, senior center fielder Jack Neikirk and sophomore right-hander Jared Cardinal.
“They are eager and are willing to go out there and want to go out there but again it is weird because you are usually cutting your teeth as a freshmen or a sophomore Now some of these guys are cutting teeth and you are looking for everyday playing time for the first time as a senior and there are so many of them that it is going to be hard,” Paes said.
The G-Men’s greatest obstacle will be finding quality innings from the rotation, as ace Aidan Hill, who had paved the way for success on the mound for the last two years, has graduated.
Leading the rotation will be Warnick, a Kent State University Tuscarawas commit, who hurled 38.0 innings and compiled a 1.47 ERA across nine games while striking out 44 batters and issuing 20 walks.
“He is going to be our number one right now,” said Paes. “Last year, his ERA was low. He pitched extremely well and had lot of strikes, a great win-loss record and his ERA was down. He was really consistent last year, and I look for him to hopefully continue that and get some wins against the number one pitchers this year.”
Paes said that Cardinal is expected to be the number two pitcher in the rotation, following a freshman campaign when he appeared in only four games, recorded a 6.00 ERA over 14.0 innings, striking out 14 and walking 7 batters.
He added that the G-Men will also try to coax some innings out of seniors such as Neikirk, Bogucki, junior left fielder Nate Baczkowski and freshman Cole Summers-Wade.
While the G-Men will have a lot of questions in the rotation, Paes said that he does expect Garfield to be a better fielding team this year.
“I think we have a lot of guys who are good at fielding,” he said. “Anything can happen. It is high school baseball so I have seen crazy things happen with errors. I think in fielding, we have guys who can play positions and I am trying to find spots and innings for these guys.”
According to Paes, the G-Men will rely on their contact skills to fuel the offense. He is hopeful that the G-Men can cut down on their strikeouts from last year; the team recorded an unfavorable strikeout rate throughout the season.
Leading off for Garfield will be Bogucki, who hit .400, drove in nine runs and collected two doubles across 23 games.
“It started with him the last three years because when he was a freshman he was getting on base and stealing bases. He had 46 stolen bases that year but again it got a little bit lower every year. It is because these teams that we are playing are pretty darn good,” said Paes.
Pesicek will catch again, after hitting .218, driving in nine runs and swatting two doubles over 22 games.
“The consistency of his always being in there is huge, he is a tough kid, and we need his bat to wake up this year,” Paes noted. “We need him behind the plate and at the plate to have a successful year.”
The G-Men’s starting outfield will be comprised of Neikirk in center field, Baczkowski in left field and seniors Holden Kissell and Carson Norton splitting time in right field.
Neikirk returns in center field after hitting .154, collecting 7 RBIs in 22 games.
“He struggled a little bit at the plate last year, but he is a lockdown guy in center field,” Paes said. “He can get to almost any ball.”
After beginning the season with home-and-away Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier games against Southeast on Monday and Tuesday,and a road duel against Portage County foe Mogadore on Thursday, the G-Men will stay on the road and face Mineral Ridge on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
