Sophomore first baseman Max Cormier sparked the offense with two hits, including an RBI triple.
“We want to make a run at the title this year,” Glazier said.
Senior centerfielder Matt Steinmetz has similar aspirations for the 2011 team.
“We are looking to win districts, beat Brother Rice, and make states.”
Brother Rice has ended the season early for Seaholm two years in a row, but this year the Maples hope to end that streak if the Warriors stand in their way of a district title.
“We have to approach that game with focus and not be intimidated,” Steinmetz said. “We should be able to compete with [Brother Rice] and hopefully come out on top.”
Tryouts began with 22 Maples hoping to earn a spot on the coveted varsity roster. After an intense week of pitching, hitting, and fielding drills, only 16 players made the cut.
The team has one returning starter- senior second baseman Derrick Amboyan. Amboyan hit .433 last season, hitting in the 2 spot.
Junior pitchers Scott Anderson and Glazier lead a strong set of arms for the Maples. Anderson pitched 4 varsity games last year and finished with a 3-0 record and an ERA of 2.74. Glazier went 4-1 in 8 appearances with a 2.35 ERA.
Head Coach Dan Drapal looks to his senior class to provide leadership this season but he is also happy with how the junior class has meshed with the seniors.
“We have good senior leadership with Matt Steinmetz and Michael Burgher, our outfielder and catcher, as well as Bobby Willen,” Drapal said. “All the seniors are a tight knit group as well as the juniors are a tight knit group with John Glazier, Scott Anderson, and Steven Palmeri.”
Along with the strong senior class, Drapal looks forward to seeing the development of several new additions to the varsity team.
“This year we have Michael Burgher, who I think is going to step up catching for us,” Drapal said. “We also have a freshman catcher, Josh Leitman, who is going to be backing [Burgher] up.”
Along with Burgher and Leitman, Drapal said Cormier and various juniors will compete for starting jobs on the diamond.
This hard working group of players and coaches hope that their off-season conditioning program will enhance their chances of success this season.
“We hired on Mr. Carleton as our strength coach,” Drapal said. “I addressed the kids at the beginning of the year and I said ‘This is for you guys. It’s voluntary but if you want to compete you need to buy into this.’”
