Mansfield Christian Flames ready to bring an end to long losing streak
The Flames kick off their season at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 23 at Mansfield Senior
Jake Furr
Mansfield News Journal
MANSFIELD - The Mansfield Christian Flames could be a sleeper team in 2019.
After going 0-16 a year ago, the Flames bring back six starters and seven letter-winners, but were hit hard by graduation losing six seniors including most of the pitching staff. Still, the underdog role fits the Flames well as they look to end an 0-38 skid over the last two seasons.
"Numbers are down this year since we lost so many to graduation," Mansfield Christian coach Scott Carrier said. "We lost five pitchers off last year's team and Joel Golias who was honorable mention All-District and hit .381 last season and led us in hits. Having Campbell Miller healthy for a full season will help lead the offense."
Miller brings back a solid bat after hitting .577 in 10 games a year ago after he had to miss the first six games of the season with a foot injury. He was voted second team All-Mid-Buckeye Conference as a junior and will be the centerfielder this season providing a ton of leadership in the outfield.
Senior Adam Stephan will be behind the dish after hitting .350 as a junior when he led the team in extra base hits as an honorable mention All-District 9 catcher.
"He has a gun behind the plate," Carrier said.
Sophomore Jackson Lawhorn will play first and senior Jesse Williamson will be at second. Senior Elisha Jessee will be the shortstop this season. He hit .243 last season, but only struck out four times putting the ball in play nearly every atbat. Carrier expects some of those balls in play to find holes this season.
The third base position is still up for grabs in the early part of spring and could come down to senior Carter Klotzbach, senior Garrett Jones or senior Sam Golab.
Senior Addison Karger will be in left field joining Miller in the outfield while right field is up for grabs as well. Klotzbach and sophomore Jace Craner are expected to compete for the starting spot.
"Campbell Miller only played in 10 games last season and hit .577," Carrier said. "I am anxious to see what he can do through a full season. Adam Stephan came on strong towards the end of last season and he has had some great practices so far. Elisha Jessee is our table setter on offense. He has been our leadoff for the last couple of years and is our best bunter. We like to play small ball with him because he can bunt to spots."
The pitching staff is shallow, but has come great arms. Senior Adam Vealey is the No. 1 on the depth chart. He proved to be a very good control pitcher in 2018 with just three walks. Miller, Stephan and Jessee will all see time on the mound this year as the pitching staff if made of all seniors.
"Adam Vealey is our best off speed pitcher and has great control," Carrier said. "He is our workhorse on the mound. The only thing that limits him is the mandated OHSAA pitch count rule. He would run to the mound every day if I would let him."
The thing that kept the Flames from the win column a year ago was the defensive errors. Goal No. 1 this season, eliminate those errors and close out innings.
"We have to cut down on our errors," Carrier said. "We were able to get two quick outs but then we give up three or four runs on errors or mental mistakes. We were down 2-1 in the fourth inning to Loudonville last season then the wheels fell off. We had leads against Central Christian, St. Pete's, Mansfield Senior, Crestline, Ridgemont and a few others but we couldn't hang on either due to errors or our offense would sputter out. We have to put a complete game together on both sides to end this losing streak. We haven't won a game since May of 2016."
In order for the Flames to being an end to that losing streak, they will have to beat some very good teams in their own conference.
"Loudonville will be the clear favorite, but I think Lucas can give them a huge push," Carrier said. "With (Logan) Niswander's and (Jeb) Grover's performances, they can carry the Cubs. Central Christian has almost their entire team back so I look for them to make a little noise as well. St Pete's has an excellent hitter in Adrian Frank and Crestline has Kaden Ronk, Ty Clark, and Alex Norwood returning.
"I feel that if we play our best every time out, we can compete with anyone. We lost to Crestline 5-4 in extra innings last year after giving up a 4-1 lead. Our men can make some noise in this league and make a push for the top half of the conference. They have shown they can play with anyone."
For the Flames to be competitive, Carrier admitted three things must happen every day.
"We have to remain injury free," Carrier said. "With our numbers so low, we cannot afford injuries. We have to play great defense and help our pitchers keep their pitch counts low and we have to put ourselves in a position to win and we do that by playing a complete game in all areas."
The Flames kick off their season at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 23 at Mansfield Senior. The Flames also were invited to play in the Akron Rubberduck High School Baseball Classic at Canal Park. The will play Akron Manchester at 1 p.m. on April 27.
"This is a great once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our boys to play on a professional field that some of the Indians like Francisco Lindor and Corey Kluber have played on," Carrier said. "I'm excited for them."
jfurr@gannett.com
Twitter: @JakeFurr11