Baseball preview: With solid pieces, Ottawa looks to put puzzle together

While third-year Ottawa coach Tyler Wargo knows he has a number of good baseball players on his roster for the 2024 season, where they will be in the lineup and where they will be in the field are still unknowns.

“We have a lot of competition for spots right now,” Wargo said. “A lot of times it’s the norm going into any season for a few spots, but to be very honest, that is really every spot for us right now. When the games start is when some of these things will take care of themselves and guys will show by their play where they need to be to make us the best team we can be.

“The biggest key to any season is doing all the little things correctly. The good weather we’ve had, which has allowed us to be on the field, has helped us be able to work on those things a little more than we have been able to in the past. I feel like we are at the point where we are ready to start playing games to see where things fit and see what everyone can do.”

“I feel like we are at the point where we are ready to start playing games to see where things fit and see what everyone can do.”

—  Tyler Wargo, Ottawa baseball coach

The Pirates, who finished 17-18 last spring with a 5-5 mark in Interstate 8 Conference play, will look to replace graduates in Times All-Area first-teamers Payton Knoll and Rylan Dorsey and second-team selections Julian Alexander and Ryan Chamberlain.

Ottawa’s 18-player roster consists of seniors Alex Billings, Jack Henson, Cam Loomis (3-6, 46.2 IP, 41 K, 5.85 ERA), Packston Miller, Garrett Shymanski and Tate Wesbecker; juniors Kyler Araujo, Harry Carretto, Jaxon Cooper, Colin Fowler, Deklan Gage, Connor Hanouw, Mason Jaegle, Jackson Mangold, Jacob Rosetto and Jace Veith; as well as sophomores Lucas Farabaugh and Adam Swanson.

“We are going to be expecting Cam to have a really good season on the mound for us,” Wargo said. “He brings back the most experience from a season last year where he did a pretty good job as our No. 3 starter. We are also going to have guys like Garrett, Tate and Alex step up in bigger roles in the pitching department for us.

“Lucas will be asked to pitch some of the bigger innings, Colin has had a good track record in the lower levels of baseball, and Adam was up with us as a freshman, and while he played more of a positional role for us then, he’ll see some time on the mound, as well. Jackson, Jacob and Jaxon also will see time pitching, but right now I see them as bullpen guys.”

Wargo says while some of the position spots will depend on who is on the mound that day, he feels the defense will be solid no matter who is where.

“We have a handful of guys that can play third base in Garrett, Lucas, Kyler, Mason, Cam and Packston, so they are all going to get a shot to make that spot their own when not pitching,” Wargo said. “At shortstop, as of now, it’s a three-man rotation of Jacob, Cam and Lucas, and at second base it could be Jace or Colin, but it may always be one of the guys I talked about playing third or short. Mangold or Connor will be at first base, behind the plate could be either Adam, Packston or Mason, and the outfield will consist of either Harry, Jaxon, Jack or Deklan.”

While the defensive locations are still to be worked out, Wargo feels the Pirates have a chance to be a very good ballclub at the plate.

“Here is what I envision our group to be offensively. We have some guys that can really drive the baseball. Do we have that 1 through 9? I don’t know, but we are going to have scrappy guys at the top and bottom of our lineup,” Wargo said. “We are going to need every guy to put together solid at-bats, but my hope is our top guys can get on for the middle of our order consistently, and the bottom guys can do the same to get the order turned over.

“I’m preaching it to our guys, but I want us to be the toughest outs we can be every time we step in the box. I want opposing pitchers to have to grind for every out they get. I also want to see us be a little tougher when we are hitting with two strikes.”

Ottawa is scheduled to open the season Monday at Seneca, with first pitch scheduled for 4:30 p.m.