Veteran Vikings Should Put Up Offense in 2011

The weather is starting to warm up, and that means spring sports are about to start for varsity squads. As the season starts, we're taking a look at each of the teams as they ready for competition. Today, we take a look at the Vikings baseball team.

Overview

After a tough 2010 season, sixth-year head coach Ray Santana and his Vikings squad are ready to turn some heads in 2011. Led by four senior captains and a junior-heavy roster, scoring runs shouldn’t be a problem for this group. The biggest question that looms, though, is what will they get from their pitching staff? If Santana’s staff can limit base runners in 2011, the Par Hills squad should see tons of success.

Last season's results

Par Hills finished up a disappointing season in 2010 with a 4-20 mark. While the Vikings were able to produce more than eight runs per game, a inexperienced presence on the mound led to Par Hills allowing 10 walks and more than nine runs per game.

Keep your eye on

• Micheal Comerford, Shortstop-The Par Hills shortstop will bat leadoff in 2011 and Santana is expecting big things from his junior shortstop. Power, speed, average.
• Jimmy Grawehr, Starting Pitcher/First Base/Third Base-Grawehr, who is the Par Hills ace in 2011, is also a returning first team all-conference hitter who will man both corner infield positions when not on the mound.
• CJ Joyce, Catcher-Joyce returns as the Vikings’ backstop in 2011 and Santana is expecting big things from the junior.

They'll miss

• Eric Crosher, (Right Field)- Had a good season in 2010, showing off an impressive arm to go along with his offense. Santana is confident that Masker should be up to the task of replacing him.
• Maso Cotton (Infield)- A Par Hills captain in 2010, Cotton is now starting as a freshman at Virginia State.
• Chris Gonzalez (Left Field)- Santana will miss Gonzalez’s bat in 2011, as he was a main contributor to the Par Hills offense last season.

Coach's Take

“I have high hopes for this team. The thing that scares me is that we’re very young, but we do have talent. It’s all going to come down to our pitching. I think we’ll hit and play the field well, and if our pitching can throw strikes and keep us in games, I think we’re going to make some people nervous.”- Santana

They said it

"I think we’re really young and talented. We don’t have a lot of experience, but we’re really athletic and as the season goes on I think we’ll get more experience and really put it all together.”- Comerford

“I think it’s looking pretty good. Coming off of last season, there are definitely much higher expectations. This team is very motivated and ready to go, and we will be ready to go. The youth is going to be what will carry us through this season. We still expect a lot out of our seniors, but the fact of the matter is that we don’t have too many.”- Sam Fendler

“This year we’re very youth oriented, a lot of juniors starting, not a lot of seniors, but I think we’re looking a lot better than last year.”- Steven Masker

“I expect big things. We’ve been working hard and the attitude has been great in the locker room. We’re having fun and we’ll do our thing.”- Greg Minardi

2011 Par Hills Baseball Team Roster

An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed Michael Comerford as a senior.