Vikings have a mission

Published 12:01 am Thursday, March 10, 2011

The bad news is that the Lake Stevens High School baseball team has only been able to get on its field one time so far thanks to the wet weather. The good news is Vikings coach Rodger Anderson has a pretty good idea of what he has without seeing his players on the field.

And what he has is a driven team full of returning talent from a squad that was ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 4A heading into the 2010 playoffs only to be eliminated in the district tournament.

“We’ve talked about it quite a bit,” Anderson said. “We have to stay focused. Last year on the second day of tryouts, I really went off on them, which is unusual for me, but from that day on we were focused. And then we got to the playoffs and for whatever reason, it didn’t happen. This year, they seem like they’re on kind of a mission. We’re definitely motivated by the lack of success in the playoffs last year.”

Lake Stevens entered the playoffs as a state favorite thanks to a young but dominant pitching staff and a powerful offense. Instead, the Vikings failed to make it out of a tough district tournament, getting eliminated by another talent-packed team in Shorewood.

But there’s good news for the Vikings. Both Shorewood and Mountlake Terrace — state contenders in their own right — have dropped to 3A. That doesn’t mean the cupboard is bare in Wesco 4A as Jackson, Edmonds-Woodway, Oak Harbor, Snohomish, Cascade, Marysville-Pilchuck and Kamiak should all be solid. But it does mean two teams that might have stood in Lake Stevens’ way are out of the picture.

But with a roster as talented as the Vikings, maybe it wouldn’t have mattered.

“Even for not really getting on the field, I’ve been impressed,” Anderson said. “We have a good mix of veterans and young guys who have all been working hard.”

Lake Stevens returns six all-conference players, led by all-state pick Dylan Lavelle. The shortstop/right-handed pitcher is the top-ranked junior in the state by Baseball Northwest and could be the best all-around player regardless of class. Lavelle has the size (6-foot-2) and arm-strength to dominate on the mound but is such a good hitter that he could be more of a prospect at the plate, where Anderson said he could end up as a third baseman, outfielder or even catcher.

“He’s looked really good,” Anderson said. “The older guys have seen him come up and seen how hard he works. He’s been home-schooled but he’s come in and done weight work with the team and works as hard as anyone and that’s helped him fit in great even though he’s not in school with the rest of the team every day.”

Lavelle isn’t the only outstanding junior on the team. Anthony Blackie, who will pitch and play outfield or third base, is also among the top-20 ranked juniors in the state and forms a great pitching combo with Lavelle. J.T. Cox and Brandon Fiske are also pitcher/infielders who were all-league, as were Matt Sweeney and Tyler Klep.

“If someone were to ask me who is our No. 1, I could fill out four names,” Anderson said of his pitching staff. “That’s a nice problem to have. They all have a lot of experience. The problem is going to be getting enough innings for all of them. We’ll have to come up with some kind of rotation.”

The pitching staff will be backed by a solid defense and an offense that should put up plenty of runs. Anderson is excited by the return of outfielder Christian Gasca, who played as a freshman but sat out last season while focusing on other sports. He brings speed and defense to an already stacked team.

“We should be pretty solid all the way through the order,” Anderson said. “That helps because people can’t just pitch around Dylan. We should have a lot of support around him.”

Lake Stevens will challenge itself right away, opening the season Tuesday at home against Mountlake Terrace. That is, if the Vikings can ever actually get out on the field.

“We don’t even really stretch,” Anderson said. “We rush out to the cages or we try to get on the track and take some ground balls before the track team gets there. It’s a challenge to stay focused when you’re not getting to really play much, but I’ve been really happy with what I’ve seen.”