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Show GBsisoCqjsiuD M WHS By DAVE WIGHAM For the first time in many years the Viewmont baseball team is young and inexperienced. Usually the Vikes are loaded with experienced ballplayers, but this year the Vikes only have five seniors on the squad. EVEN THE seniors that the Vikings have don't have that much playing experience, only Gary Brockbank and Reg Miles are returning with any. kind of experience. The catching duties for the Vikes are handled by senior Rick Ellis. Coach Bender compares Rick to his older brother Bart, a former all-stater all-stater for the Vikes. Rick is a good receiver with excellent quickness, his arm isn't the strongest but he gets it away so quick you don't notice. AT FIRST base is sophomore Brian Bown, a tall switch hitter from Woods Cross. Coach Bender indicated indicat-ed that he has been waiting anxiously for several years to get Bown, so it's no surprise to the coach that this soph is doing so well. In his first varsity game against Skyview Bown hit a triple then a single batting right handed, then switched and hit a single left handed. Senior Jeff Ogden holds down second base for the Vikes, Jeff is a good hitter but more important to the coach is his leadership. Third base started out to be the problem spot of the Vikings this year as the two returning third sackers both moved. JUNIOR TODD Bur-ningham Bur-ningham has been moved over to the hot box from second to help solve the problem. Todd has excellent speed and an accurate throwing throw-ing arm, he is also hitting over .300 for the season. At shortstop a battle has formed between junior Mark Lalli and sophomore Steve Neilsen. Lalli is also a pitcher for the Vikes, he throws right and hits left, while Neilsen is strictly an infielder. COACH BENDER is impressed with Sieves hustle and enthusiasm toward the game, he is also one of the hardest workers on the squad. The outfield for the Vikings is different almost every game, the determining factor is the decision of who will pitch. Many of the pitchers for the Vikes also hit well and are used in the outfield. THE MAIN outfielders thus far have been seniors Reg Miles, and Mike Knighton, and juniors Jim Tingey, Kevin Walker and Brad Rosser. Miles is probably the fastest fast-est member of the team, but . summing up his outfield Coach Bender indicates that" ' they have better than average speed and all possess accurate throwing arms. LEADING THE mound staff for the Vikes is senior Gary Bockbank, he is View-motil's View-motil's stopper. Last year he proved to be the clutch pitcher of the staff also, he won the league play-off game and then pitched a two hit shutout over Brighton in the State tournament. Coach Bender feels that Gary has a good fast bail and a very effective ef-fective curve ball. Also returning from last year's pitching staff is Reg Miles. Reg actually had the best record of the Viewmont pitchers last year. As a junior pitching varsity ball Reg was 5-0. His main pilch is his fastball, which is made more effective by his windup, Reg has a herky, jerky type of motion that really distracts hitters. PROBABLY THE third pitcher of the staff is Mark Lalli. Mark is the so called junk ball pitcher. You name a pitch and Mark can throw it, this year though Mark is throwing alot harder so his fastball is becoming an effective effec-tive weapon also. After these three chuckers it's a tossup between six others who will throw. Juniors Curt Wilkins, Kevin Walker, Roger Berry and Bryan Duff all throw well. SOPHOMORES Mark Garn and Todd Hatch have shown promise. Coach Bender is really high on Garn not just as a pitcher but as an infielder in-fielder and hitter. Garn has been sick recently and this has hindered his progress somewhat.' Coach Bender feels he is extremely lucky to have an assistant like Coach Val Cullimore. He attributes much of his success to Val, who handles the catchers, pitchers and infielders. ACTUALLY THE coaching responsibilities of the two overlap each other but working together they form an excellent landum. The Vikes are off to a slow in region which really doesn't surprise or panic Coach Bender. "Ever since I've been here the club always starts slow, I don't know why but they do, but we usually come on strong when it counts". THE COACH feels that either a 8-2 or maybe a 7-3 record will be good enough to win the league. The top two teams from the league qualify for the state tournament. It's almost tradition that the Vikes are in the tournament and they see no reason why they should change that tradition this year.dw |
