'Armed' and ready

By Brad D. Bates
C & G Sports Writer

Photos by Donna Agusti St. Clair Shores Lake Shore senior pitcher Danny Keith returns to anchor the Shorians’ 2009 pitching staff.

Lake Shores baseball looks to pitching for further success

If anything could help a high school baseball team weather losing eight starters, it’s solid starting pitching.

That’s exactly what the 2009 St. Clair Shores Lake Shore baseball team has this season.

With only three starters returning from last season’s 23-2 finish, it helps that those three are senior pitchers Danny Keith and Travis Brown, and senior shortstop/second baseman Art Copola.

“Even though we have eight seniors, we’re inexperienced,” coach Dave Kuppe said. “I’m hopeful, though, that as the season goes along we’re going to get better. We were 23-1 last year before the playoffs. This year, I’m hoping we’re around 20-10 and ready at the end of the season.”

And if anything can help a team survive growing pains, it’s a pair of aces like Brown and Keith, who last season combined for a 14-1 record while sporting ERAs under 2.00.

“They’re going to be our two horses,” Kuppe said. “We’re going to be OK there.”

Kuppe may need all that help, as the Shorians move from the Macomb Area Conference Blue Division, where they won two straight titles, to the MAC White.

Because of the move to the White, Lake Shore will face new league rivals Utica High, Utica Ford II, Warren Mott, Romeo High and Macomb L’Anse Creuse North. On the crossover slate are Grosse Pointe North, Grosse Pointe South, Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, Utica Eisenhower, Utica Stevenson and Macomb Dakota from the MAC Red.

“I’m going to see what my kids can do,” Kuppe said of facing four Red teams in the  first five games.

“It helps you pick out who can play and who can’t. Kids can go 4-for-4 against a bad team and then 1-for-15 against good ones. Maybe this will show who can handle it and who can’t early.”

A couple of newcomers Kuppe is confident will be able to handle it are junior right fielder Jeremy Bamford and junior center fielder Dan Carroll.

Bamford spent the final 10 games of last season with the varsity squad after starting the season on JV, while Carroll saw most of his time as a varsity reserve.

“I think those guys will surprise some people,” Kuppe said. “Even though they both played some last year, I really think they’re going to impress a lot of people this year.”

While the Shorians have youth in the outfield, one position that will again be in the hands of a veteran is catcher.

Following in the footsteps of Brett Mazmanian and Sam Giordano, both of whom moved on to the collegiate ranks, is senior Carl Smith.

“He’s our third senior catcher in a row, and that always helps, whether you have a young pitching staff or an older one,” Kuppe said. “They give you a lot of stability.”

Lake Shore, which had its season cut short after falling to Grosse Pointe North in the first round of the 2008 Division 1 state postseason, returns to the Division 2 tournament in 2009.

Kuppe hopes that change, along with the memory of what happened in the 2008 playoffs, helps his team to further playoff success.

“Even though we’re Division 2, we still play a Division 1 schedule,” Kuppe said of a slate that features the five MAC Red opponents, as well as teams like Warren De La Salle.

Lake Shore kicks off the 2009 schedule at 4 p.m. April 2 at Macomb Lutheran North.

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Brad D. Bates at bbates@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1029.