Last year, the Jesuit Baseball team completed an impressive, record-setting year, full of firsts for the team since they joined the UIL. They went undefeated in their district games, earning them their 6th consecutive District 9-6A title. They beat Mesquite to win the Bi-District playoffs. They beat Rowlett to win the Area playoffs. They beat rival Highland Park in front of a rowdy crowd at Wright Field to win the Regional Quarterfinals. They narrowly beat Lake Travis in a rubber match to advance to the state tournament, where they lost a heartbreaking game to end their magical run. However, not all was lost, as the Rangers will look to improve as the 2016 season gets underway.
After a long off-season, the Jesuit Baseball program is preparing to take on the challenge of following last season’s success. With the large loss of seniors, it will take new talent as well as new leaders to step up and guide the team throughout the season. The team will look to its six returning senior letterman for leadership and guidance, especially three-year veteran pitcher Kyle Muller ’16, whose pitching and batting prowess helped the Rangers make its historic run last year. University of Texas commit Muller is an incredibly hard-worker, winning the offseason’s boot camp competition in record time. His vocal energy and overall example show the other players the epitome of a true teammate. Also, three-year starters Cameron Dobbs ’16 and Bryce Bonner ’16 will give the team an edge particularly in the field of experience as they have been in certain situations during a game that only a veteran could properly handle. Dobbs, an infielder and Oklahoma State University commit, sadly had surgery on his back and will miss almost half of the regular season due to recovery. Bonner, a Purdue commit, will look to continue his role as the backbone of the team as a catcher and a key batter in the lineup. However, Bryce will miss the beginning of the season due to a pectoral tear, which he is recovering from. Other seniors who got some quality playing time on varsity are pitcher Pete Hamrick ’16, outfielder Jared Bond ’16, and infielder Matt Horvath ’16. Lastly, Thomas Jordan ’16, Connor Lynch ’16, Chris Campagna ’16 and Jared Kengott ’16 will look to take their leadership from junior varsity to the next level for their last year. With a strong senior lineup, the Rangers should have the confidence to be able to handle any situation with their experience.
The group of juniors returns six varsity players, which will also add to the experience and confidence level of the team overall. Standout batters and fielders include outfielder Mark Ready, who was a key component both in the lineup and on the field, infielder JT Mix ’17, who was another starter from last year’s team, and Alex Lengyel ’17, who was a key baserunner during playoffs last year. Each of these players brings power, quickness, and overall speed. Now, on the pitcher’s mound, however, is where the junior class really lends its talent and experience. In fact, three out of the five pitchers in the rotation for Jesuit are juniors. First, JJ Montenegro returns from starting multiple games last year both in the regular season and in the playoffs and is particularly noteworthy for his great performance in the win against Highland Park that clinched the Regional Quarterfinals title. Montenegro has an incredible work ethic and a hard fastball that stuns opponents. He will be a key figure in the rotation this year, as he is projected to be very successful. Next, the Rangers return another varsity starter in Stanford commit Jacob Palisch ’17 who carried the team into the postseason, including a terrific shutout performance against Rowlett in the final game of the area round playoffs. Palisch’s work ethic, leadership experience, and positive attitude will aid the Rangers, particularly in district games. Heath VanKirk ’17 will also hopefully get some time on the mound as part of the rotation. His successful year on the JV level as well as the experience of being a part of the historic playoff run will help him become a leader and a key figure on the mound for the Rangers. Lastly, Jake Ryan, Wyatt Hasson, Nic Colombo, and Will Guzman will look to help out the team by increasing the depth of all positions, giving the Rangers a wide array of weapons to use against opponents.
Looking at the schedule, Jesuit will start off their season by scrimmaging other teams like Coppell and Naaman Forest before playing three tournaments in March: the Bryan/College Station tournament, the Jesuit Classic held at Wright Field and the Highland Park Classic. These tournaments and scrimmages against out-of-district teams will help the Rangers hone their skills and allow the coaches to make adjustments to the batting and fielding lineups, in order to enhance the team’s prowess before the district games start. Around mid-March, the Rangers begin district play, where the games count towards a spot in the postseason. Each week, until the beginning of May, will feature two games played against the same opponent, one home and one away. In order, Jesuit will face Sunset, Skyline, Irving, Nimitz, WT White, MacArthur, and finally RL Turner. Hopefully, last year’s impressive feat of winning district undefeated will rub off on this year’s team as they look to win their seventh consecutive district title.
In preparation for the upcoming season, The Roundup had a chance to talk with Coach Brian Jones, JJ Montenegro ’17, and Heath VanKirk ’17 to hear about their thoughts on both last season and this season.
First, Coach Jones talked about some of the differences between last year’s team and this year’s group, noting that, “Our pitching staff is deeper and more experienced than what we had last year,” which helps to make up for the large loss of offense. Montenegro learned from the experience of a deep playoff run last year, and notes that it has helped him personally grow: “From my perspective, now finally having one year of varsity and playoff experience under my belt, I realized that no matter what the situation is, everyone including myself has to be ready to contribute. Everyone has a role on the team.”
When asked about the impact of Cameron Dobbs’s and Bryce Bonner’s injuries, Coach said, “[Cam’s] a definite leader. He’s a three-year starter for us. As a shortstop, he’s the coach on the field, so he’s hard to replace, but we hope that by the playoffs come he’ll be ready to go,” and then added, “When it comes game time, I think Bryce will be ready to go.”
Looking to the upcoming season, Coach Jones commented that, “Our goals every year are the same,” specifically noting that, “Our goal every year is to win district.” VanKirk added, “it’s going to be tough to accomplish the same feats that we accomplished last year, but this group is very capable of that.
Montenegro commented on the strength of the pitching staff this year, saying, “With our pitching, I believe we can do a lot of damage this year and make another historic run.” Coach Jones agreed, simply stating, “With our pitching staff, I don’t see us giving up many runs.”
VanKirk talked about the integrity and commitment of this team, commenting, “This group has worked hard in the offseason and I know we all want to repeat last year’s run, so we’re working hard to do it again.” Montenegro echoed on the team’s integrity as well, saying “leadership, brotherhood, commitment, and chemistry are all a part of this team.”
Finally, when asked about what they are looking most forward to, Coach Jones is excited to “just to see how this group gels together and what is going to be our identity for a new group.” Montenegro wants to finish what the team started last year, noting, “We are all itching to get another chance of completing something we couldn’t last year.”
Who knows? After last year’s record-breaking season, it seems that anything is truly possible.
Be sure to follow The Roundup for all baseball coverage as the 2016 season gets underway!
