Mariners get into playing shape

POLSON - On a nice crisp March morning, 15 high school-aged boys take a run to warm up and get back in shape.

Those boys chose to work out in the morning and it shows their dedication to getting back into shape for the upcoming Mission Valley Mariners baseball season.

With tryouts held this weekend, many had to get back into fighting shape for the first games April 24 and 28.

Since the end of January, the players have been slowly getting back into the swing of things.

In mid-March, sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays were added and the intensity of each practice time will increase as try-outs get closer.

"Everything up until this point has been drills. Kids are throwing bullpens for three weeks, getting the arms in shape," head coach Jami Hanson said. "They will throw long toss today and the pitchers who didn't throw last time will throw today. We talked about having a little scrimmage, but we're not ready for that. So, it's more drills."

This year, the Mariners will field two teams because the number of athletes increased to 28.

"We had a lot of younger kids come out," Hanson said.

The players range in age from 15 to 19, but can't have turned 19 before Jan. 1 of this year. This season will see two players on the roster that return after their first year of college.

Once those two return, the leadership of the team can be put into place.

"We're waiting for the leadership to step up and take control," Hanson said. "It's just a matter of time, just let them take the reins and decide what they want to do."

At the younger end of the spectrum, Hanson said he tried to keep the players that are eligible for Babe Ruth at that level but have a couple athletes that decided to move up.

The decision to run two teams also stems from the fact that this year's squad will be a senior heavy team.

"That is one reason why we are running two teams this year is because we will, hopefully, get the younger squad some experience," Hanson said.

Hanson will coach both teams until the other coaches get back from college. Chris Brown coached the B team two years ago and helped last year.

Hanson said he hopes to pick up right where the team left off last year, making it to the semi-final game of the state championship.

"As young as we were last year and where we came from at the start of the year to where we ended up, I expect great things out of these kids," Hanson said.

The Mariners return the entire infield and most of the outfield.

"That's a pretty solid core group coming back," Hanson said. "I expect great things from them."

Many of the players will also pull double duty pitching as well and the lineup will adjust accordingly. A key is having two or three utility players, Hanson said.

"Playing time is going to be very spread out," he said. "The younger squad is going to be pretty well established, they have a lot of younger kids coming up that can be competing for a starting spot. Nothing's frozen, it's all open."

The two squads will house about 14 players each and Hanson said it will be tough to keep the balance between keeping the experienced players on the field and getting the newer ones playing time.

"We are going to try and divide up the squads as evenly as we can with 14 kids," he said. "Playing time is not as easy as other sports. With baseball, when you pull a starter out, you can't put them back in. It makes it very tough. When you pull them out of the game, you're taking things away from them and we've all seen 10-run leads cut down to three or four. It's gray-hairing for coaches."

This season, the rivalry with the Bitterroot teams will still be intact as well as Kootenai Valley, who won the north last season.

"Missoula pulls kids out of the woodwork," Hanson said. "It's unbelievable. They're all 5'7", 140 pounds and they all look alike, too, so it's kind of funny. Libby will put together a talented squad. Kalispell is a lot like Missoula, they pull kids out. Glacier has a new coaching staff."

The Mariners will host the 16th annual Firecracker tournament this year that will feature 12 teams. This will serve as a fundraiser to help the club out.

The B team starts its season when it hosts the Missoula Mavericks A team on April 24 and the A team kicks things off April 28 hosting the Glacier Twins AA.