NewCath baseball, softball hopes to take steps forward

 

G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic pitcher Nick Seibert fires to the plate in a recent scrimmage while first baseman Jake Pangallo gets in position. The Thoroughbreds have won the last two 9th Region titles.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

It is a story of a team with unfinished business.

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds baseball team owns a stellar 51-27-1 record over the last two seasons with consecutive 9th Region crowns. NewCath would not mind three-peating as region champs then going another step if not a few more further than what they’ve gone in the state tournament.

The Thoroughbreds have lost in the state quarterfinals the past two years. They dropped a tough 1-0 decision to eventual state runner-up Henderson County in nine innings last year after dropping a 10-4 decision to Louisville Pleasure Ridge Park in the same round in 2011.

Vetetan NewCath Head Coach Jeff Schulkens and staff welcome back seven starters last year’s squad that finished 25-17-1 overall. Schulkens is entering his 18th year as head coach.

“We started conditioning on Oct. 15 and we’ve been going three days a week until we started practice in February,” Schulkens said. “The kids have a goal. They want to win region again and compete for a state title. It’s always tough. We have good teams. We have to be playing our best in May to win another region title.”

The seven returning starters for the Thoroughbreds are seniors. The returning leading hitters are pitcher/outfielder Josh Cain and infielder Pete Collopy. Cain hit .370 last year with three home runs and Collopy batted about .315-.320.

“We’ve put a big emphasis on senior leadership,” Collopy said. “We have a lot of people coming back so we’re really confident. Everyone has an equal shot at playing time regardless if they’re a senior or not.”

The other returning infielders are Colin DuPont, Alex Grau and Connor Bartels. Dom Pangallo returns in the outfield and Kevin Hoffstedder returns to play catcher. Grau can also catch and Bartels could also play the outfield or pitch.

The Thoroughbreds graduated three starters from last year in Brady Hightchew, Nick Woltermann and Andy Miller. Hightchew took his talents to Shawnee State in Portsmouth, Ohio. Hightchew often led off with Woltermann batting third and Miller fifth.

The Thoroughbreds have a number of other players that could also make a difference. The other two seniors are infielder Michael Bueter and outfielder Nick Seibert.

“On any given day, anyone can win,” Schulkens said. “We’ve talked from day one about getting better every day. We also talked about doing all the little things right. We have the talent to have a good year. We have to do all the little things right to have a great year.”

The roster also consists of six juniors. They are infielder Jake Yeager, outfielder Kole Zenni, infielder John Caudill, outfielder Tommy Donnelly, infielder Mitch Pangallo and infielder/outfielder Jake Pangallo.

A pair of sophomores rounds out the 17-player roster. They are infielder Brandon Gray and infielder Zach Pangallo.

Pitching depth is needed to take teams deep into the tournament. The Thoroughbreds have 10 players that could contribute in that department this year. They are Cain, Bartels, Seibert, Mitch Pangallo, Bueter, Yeager, Gray, Caudill, Donnelly and Zach Pangallo.

“It’s early in the season. I’m just trying to throw strikes,” Cain said. “We’re not throwing many off-speed pitches or curves yet. Coach (Schulkens) usually calls the pitches. We have a lot of guys that threw decent. I think our pitching can be scary good once we’re all on top of our potential this year.”

The Thoroughbreds opened the season with losses to Lexington Catholic and Louisville Trinity on Saturday. They face Woodford County at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Freedom Field.

NCC Softball looks to surprise:

The Thoroughbreds enter their eighth season as a program fresh off their fourth district title.

NewCath finished 20-14 last year and won the 36th District crown. The Thoroughbreds then turned some heads by knocking off Notre Dame, 9-4 for their first 9th Region win since 2008 and just their second region win in school history.

“Last year, we weren’t expected to win anything and ended up winning 20 games,” said Denny Barnes, NewCath head coach. “This is one of the funnest teams I’ve had to coach and the reason for that is no drama. Coaching girls, you normally have some drama. This team is ready to play.”

NewCath graduated three seniors from that team. They were center fielder Paige Immgard, right fielder Meghan Milfard and first baseman Rachel Hardesty.

Barnes welcomes back six starters from that team. Senior Christine Enzweller is the lone returning starting outfielder in left field. The only other senior listed on the roster is outfielder Madison Ballard.

The preseason has seen a lot of cold days meaning a lot of practices have been indoors. That has caused opponents to cancel many games early.

“We can’t wait to get outside,” Enzweller said. “It’s hard practicing (indoors) because we can’t get in the dirt.”

Four sophomores return after starting as freshmen last year in catcher Kristin Schreiber, shortstop Michaela Ware, third baseman Loren Zimmerman and second baseman Casey Kohls. Kohls batted .439 last year to lead the team and Ware hit .345.

“Even though we’re a young team, we have the potential to beat any team,” Burkhart said. “We lost part of our outfield from last year so we have to adjust to that. We also don’t have a left-handed batter this year so we have to adjust to that more.”

Junior Taylor Burkhart and sophomore Sarah Neace could share the pitching load. Neace finished last year with a record of 11-4.

The roster consists of 14 players total. Juniors Molly Mertle and Amanda Schabell could battle for playing time in the infield and sophomore Morgan Martini could battle for playing time in the outfield. Freshmen battling to contribute are infielders Aliva Gross, Alexa Kehoe and Amber Griese.

A sign of the growth of the program comes with the start of a freshman team. Barnes said that team has 18 players this year.

NewCath is scheduled to open the season today at 5 p.m. at Bellevue.