Baseball Season Preview:

By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
Case O’Neil has taken over as head coach of the Saugatuck baseball team.
He inherits a squad with a considerable amount of varsity experience.
Just how much experience is on the Saugatuck roster, you ask?
Well, 15 players have played games at the varsity level, led by six seniors and a pair of juniors.
Given that level of experience, it should come as no surprise that O’Neil ranks leadership as one of the biggest strengths of his team.
“We have a lot of great senior leadership, and I really hope we can give them a final season to be proud of,” O’Neil said. “I expect a lot of production from the older guys and the younger players to fill in the blanks. My goal is to be a hard out all season.”
But it’s not just the seniors who have shown good leadership qualities.
“Our strength that jumps off the page is our leadership,” O’Neil said. “And that goes for everybody, old guys and young guys alike. They’re doing a great job of keeping each other accountable every day at practice.”
The group of returning seniors includes Noah Morgan (first base/pitcher), Cass Stanberry (second base/pitcher/center field), Norm Bos (catcher/third base), Noah DeBoer (center field/pitcher) Jaxson Green (outfield) and Anders Peterson (outfield).
Sam Bos (second base/pitcher) and Morgan Davis (left field/pitcher) are the returning juniors.
Sophomores Holden Burd (pitcher/shortstop), Gradon Gross (first base/pitcher), Oliver Hosie (infield/pitcher), Braison Jones middle infield/pitcher), Evan Kothman (infield/pitcher), Kevin VanDam (right field) and Soren Peterson (second base/pitcher) also return.
“Team goals this year are as follows: get better every day as new coach who is new to the area and to install a winning and lasting culture that develops young men to be students, contributing community members and quality teammates,” O’Neil said.
That part about being good teammates will be critical for the team’s success, according to O’Neil.
“Good teams have good teammates,” he said. “We hope to be coming together as a group and have our roles clearly defined right about the time the postseason comes around.”
Freshman third baseman/catcher Nolan LaLonde is among the team’s newcomers.
“Nolan will be a difference maker for us right away,” O’Neil said. “He can play defense, he has pop in his bat and he’s a natural-born leader.”