PREP BASEBALL ‘94: EMPIRE LEAGUE

Loara

1993 RECORDS:

OVERALL: 3-20

LEAGUE: 1-14

COACH: David Lappin

RECORD AT SCHOOL: 3-20

RETURNING STARTERS YR. POS. B-T Mike Boomsma Sr. 1B/P R-L Ean Brown Sr. 3B/OF R-R Chris Carrillo Sr. 2B R-R Carson Crucil Jr. C/OF R-R Jason Hoffman Sr. C/OF R-R Art Ortiz Jr. P/OF R-R Jeff Roncevich Jr. P R-R

TOP RETURNERS: None

TOP NEWCOMERS YR. POS. B-T Bill Bird Sr. P R-R Chris Cramer Jr. Utl R-R

OUTLOOK

It was a tough first year for Lappin. “We were a bunch of young pups and we got whipped,” he said. Things should be better this season. Heck, even last season ended well. The Saxons beat El Dorado near the end of the season to avoid going winless in league play. They also scored eight runs in the seventh inning in the league finale against second-place Los Alamitos. They still lost, 12-11. But Loara does return seven starters, who should help improve on last season’s record. “We’ll be better and we’ll be competitive,” Lappin said. Boomsma was a second-team all-league selection. Roncevich will probably be the No. 1 starter. Ortiz will get the first shot at the No. 2 slot. Ortiz played center field last season, but didn’t pitch because he was coming off arm problems. He threw well over the summer. Ortiz and Hoffman were also second-team all-league selections. Hoffman is in his fourth year on the varsity and has been a starter at catcher the past two seasons. Kirkland, a reserve as a freshman last season, will be a key at shortstop.