Cobras counting on experience on diamond | Sports | Berkeley Independent

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Cobras counting on experience on diamond

Published Tuesday, March 16, 2010 11:42 AM

By Rob Gantt
Berkeley Independent

photo by Dan Brown

Shortstop Brandon Hall shores up the middle defense for Cane Bay this spring.

Cane Bay’s baseball team will be as experienced as any team in the area but is still on the young side as it heads into its second season.

“It’s a big benefit when you’ve got everybody back with a year’s worth of experience,” said Cobras coach Shane Todd, whose team went 6-14 a year ago with only freshmen and sophomores. “With what we have, we’ll have a chance to be competitive in each game. We’re going to need to get good pitching and timely hits.”

The Cobras’ top three pitchers are sophomores Quinton Cable, a southpaw, and Zach Wimmer and junior Kellin Kunkel.

“They can throw three pitches for strikes,” Todd said. “When they’re out there, they give us the best chance to win.”

Cable is a returning all-region player in the outfield. A year ago, he batted .448 with a team-high 21 RBIs. Wimmer will also play on the left side of the infield.

Sophomore shortstop Brandon Hall is the only other all-region performer returning. He batted .365 with 14 RBIs.

Junior outfielder Kyle Spearman was the third-leading hitter in 2009, batting .321 with a team-high 19 runs.

Junior catcher Chris Schaefer is back to receive after hitting .300.

Kunkel, a starter in the outfield, hit .296 last season. Junior Nigel Britt will start in the outfield some, too.

Sophomore Ty Wilder is slated to play first base after a broken arm ended his 2009 and either junior Ricky Ferrell or sophomore Steven Childress will start at second base.

Dalton Curry is an outfielder and catcher for the Cobras. He batted .283 last season.

While experience is Cane Bay’s biggest asset, Todd says toughness and dedication are pluses too.

“The thing right now is that they’re a hard-nosed group of kids,” Todd said. “We’re not the most talented when you start looking at 60 times, arm strength and stuff like that but we’ve got some young guys that are talented and are hard workers. When they come to the park, they come in to work on the things they need to work on.”

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