Talented Baseball Team Has High Goals

Ryan Jones won all seven of his pitching starts last season. He says he's throwing harder now and with more control. (Photo by Steve Bowman)

By Steve Bowman
Editor, The Brentwood Spirit

Of all the sports at Brentwood High School, football and basketball draw the biggest crowds. But if wins and losses alone determined a team’s fan support, police might have to be brought in for crowd control at BHS baseball games.

That would be true especially this spring. The Eagles are coming off of a 9-0 conference record from 2010 and look even better for the 2011 season, which starts on March 29.

This is coach Mike Imergoot’s 13^th season with the team and he says he’s never seen a better pitching staff. The Eagles can hit, too − three players return who batted .430 or better last year. Six returnees won all-conference honors. And to top it off, the two best teams in Brentwood’s district last year were moved to other districts. So perennial state contenders Crystal City and Valle Catholic will no longer be impediments in the Class 2, District 5 tournament − which BHS has not won since 1994.

With so much potential for a memorable season, the naturally enthusiastic Imergoot is even more upbeat than usual. “I’m excited,” he said. “I’ve been excited for the past nine months. The district is wide open and I like to think we can compete for it.” Senior first baseman/pitcher Ryan Marshall is fired up as well. “I’ve never been on a team where everybody was so excited for the season to start,” he said. “We’ve been talking about practice starting for three weeks.” For senior pitcher/shortstop Ryan Jones, the excitement is rooted in optimism. “I’d like us to finish first in conference, first in district and go pretty far in the playoffs,” he said. Junior pitcher/third-baseman Kevin Smith even uttered the “S” word. “This is our best opportunity to get to state,” he said.

 
Why become a head varsity coach at age 61? “I wanted to keep the continuity of the program going,” Imergoot said. “I’ve been ready for it for a long time and coach Niemann has been grooming me for that. Over the years he has given me more and more responsibility.”

Assistants from UMSL, Fontbonne

Imergoot has three assistants and two volunteers:

• Though Niemann has retired from teaching, he’s staying on as an
        “associate coach.” He’s a hitting instructor and oversees the bench while Imergoot
        coaches third base.
• The new assistant head coach and pitching coach is Jon Kalb. A 2003
        BHS grad, Kalb went on to pitch for UMSL.
• The junior varsity head coach is Dan Horn, who was a four-year starter at
        catcher for Fontbonne University. He also played for the 2004 state championship team at
        St. John Vianney High School.
• The assistant JV coach, a voluntary position, is Adam Ketcherside,
        a teammate of Horn’s at Fontbonne, where he pitched and played outfielder.
• Dan Horn’s father, Harland, has volunteered to help coach the JV pitchers.

Rob Horn returns for a second year as Brentwood's junior varsity head coach. He formerly played catcher for Fontbonne University. (Photo by Steve Bowman)

Two Ryans and a Kevin

Much of the preseason excitement centers around three players: seniors Ryan Jones and Ryan Marshall and junior Kevin Smith.

Last season Ryan Jones was named the pitcher of the year in the South Central Athletic Association Conference. He went 7-0 and had a 1.80 earned-run average. He also batted .431 and led the team in runs and RBIs, and co-led in doubles. “He’s a marvelous pitcher,” said Imergoot. “He’s got a great fastball, a good curve and an excellent changeup and he’s a smart pitcher. He’s also an extremely good hitter.” Jones played on a team in the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association (SLABA) last summer and says he’s a better pitcher for it. “SLABA is tougher than high school,” he said. “I think I’m a little better. I throw harder and have better location and mechanics. I think that should do a lot more for me this year.”

Coach Mike Imergoot helps Ryan Marshall with his delivery. Marshall pitched last summer and is projected to be Brentwood's No. 3 pitcher this spring. (Photo by Steve Bowman)

Ryan Marshall, the team captain, was a first team all-district and all-conference first baseman last year. He led the Eagles in hitting (.571), slugging (.857) and homeruns, and co-led in triples and walks. For his SLABA team last summer, he began pitching for the first time since seventh grade and he might join the Eagles’ starting rotation.

“He’s the power hitter on the team,” said Imergoot. “He pitched all summer and we’re going to have him pitch. He’s got a great fastball. If I can harness a little changeup with him I think he’ll be another starter.”

Like Jones, the 6-foot-2 Kevin Smith excels at both pitching and hitting. From the mound, he was 3-2 with a 6.13 ERA and struck out a team-best 37. At home plate he led the team in hits and singles and tied Marshall for the most triples.

“He has great stuff, a great knowledge of the game and has gone to pitching coaches for years,” said Imergoot.

Smith also plays football and basketball, but even during those seasons he played twice a week with a team in the SLABA. He believes he’s improved from last season. “I’m throwing a lot harder and my changeup is locating a lot better, with more action to it,” he said.

Kevin Smith led Brentwood's pitching staff with 37 strikeouts last season. (Photo by Steve Bowman)

“Last year at this time I was feeling some pain in my arm. This year there’s no pain.”

Lefthander Jessie Sneed, a junior, will also probably pitch. He batted .348 for BHS as a freshman before attending Westminster last year.

Imergoot likes having so many potentially solid pitchers. “We’ll be three or four deep starting-wise, which is more than most teams have,” he said. “Based on talent, we’re as good as we’ve ever been − maybe not as powerful as we’ve been, but in terms of control, stuff and location, we’re in really good shape.”

Brentwood’s other all-conference returnees are second-team catcher Frankie Lowe (.400) and outfielder Tyler Jones (.348), and honorable mention outfielder Danny Lynch (.303), who co-led the team in walks. Jones, who tied for the most doubles, will miss at least the first two weeks with a wrist injury.

Others who’ll play varsity are outfielder Dylan Baker, second baseman Jake Caragher, catcher/outfielder Damon Starks, outfielder/relief pitcher Nick Featherston, Andy Dreyer (utility), Adam Keck (outfielder/utility), first/second baseman Blake Kelley and outfielder Roland Floyd.

Eager to Play JFK

Brentwood’s first two games this season will be against teams they lost to last year: St. Pius X and John F. Kennedy. Both Smith and Ryan Jones detected a condescending attitude from the JFK players that has motivated the two Eagles during the off-season. “They’re a bigger school and they think they might be a little better, so it’d be fun to beat a team like that,” said Jones. Said Lynch, “Our first two games will decide what’s going on, because we lost to both of them last year. If we win those games, who can stop us?”

Running sprints in the JV baseball practice are, from left, Patrick Schoemehl, Jordan Groth, Blake Kelley, Steven Sadler, Jake Zivic and Eric Suntrup. (Photo by Steve Bowman)

Teams in Class 2, District 5:

Barat Academy

Brentwood

Cleveland NJROTC

Crossroads College Preparatory

Lift for Life Academy Charter

Maplewood-Richmond Heights

Valley Park

Upcoming Games:

6 p.m. Tues., March 29, host St. Pius X (Festus) at Brentwood Park

6 p.m. Wed., March 30, host JFK

5:30 p.m. Fri., April 1, at Christian HS baseball tournament

9 a.m. Sat., April 2, at Christian HS baseball tournament

Related Websites:

http://www.rteamsite.com/baseball/BHSBaseball/home.aspx

http://www.baseball-teams.com/teams/BHSJVBaseball/