SHORELINE — Last season was a forgettable one for the Shoreline Christian baseball team.
Their record? A dismal 1-14 with no league wins.
This year, the Crusader seniors hope to turn back the clock to their freshman year when they finished fourth in the state Class B tournament.
“We have that taste and we want to get back there,” said senior shortstop and pitcher Brett De Yager, who cracked the starting lineup as a freshman.
But so far, it looks like the Crusaders are a work in progress. They lost their opener 11-2 to Orcas Island and then were outscored in a doubleheader by Friday Harbor 39-0.
Head coach Marc Ensz, who returns to skipper the Crusaders after taking two years off to coach his son in Little League, touts the team’s chemistry.
They have a different personality than the 2003 team. That squad wasn’t as tight-knit as this year’s bunch, Ensz said, but they had a swagger about them and were loaded with talent.
This year’s team has a good work ethic at practice and the upperclassmen encourage the younger players, Ensz said.
Crusaders also have eight serviceable pitchers at their disposal, all right-handers except senior lefty Dilan Smead.
Junior shortstop J.T. Salamonson, could emerge as the ace of the pitching staff, Ensz said.
“We’re going to try to spread out the innings,” De Yager said. “We don’t have a lot of aces per se.”
But lacking a power pitcher on its staff, the ball will be in play a lot. That means the Crusader defense, a strong suit the players say, will have to make plays.
“We’re not going to have a pitcher that strikes out 10 to 15 batters a game,” Ensz said. “If they throw strikes we’ll win.”
Hitting is where Shoreline Christian needs to turn things around the most.
“We didn’t produce a lot of offense last year,” De Yager said.
De Yager will lead off, senior first baseman Evan Wahlman will bat second, left fielder Smead will bat third and senior catcher John Deelstra will bat clean-up.
Three other seniors will be part of the starting lineup: outfielders Charlie Carlson and Brandon Smith along with third baseman and pitcher Andrew Ott.
Three freshmen could make an impact right away, Ensz said. They are outfielder Davis Wahlman, backup catcher Weston Danhof and pitcher Travis Einfield.
Shoreline Christian lost sophomore Christopher Van Hal for the season after he broke his leg sliding during practice.
The Crusaders compete in the Northwest A/B league and will battle B schools Darrington, North Sound Christian and Orcas Island for playoff berths.
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