CRESTVIEW — If Crestview High School’s baseball team is to make a third-straight playoff appearance, many things must fall into place.
But Coach Tim Gillis believes the Bulldogs have most of the key ingredients to keep pace in a competitive District 1-7A.
“Our district is really, really tough,” Gillis said. “There are some really good teams with some really good pitching. If you remember last year, every game was a nip and tuck battle.
“It’s just a matter of doing the little things right to win games. We return a lot of guys that got a lot of experience last year. But the schedule is tough, and it’s going to be a battle every game.”
PITCHING
The Bulldogs lost two starting pitchers — Matt Gillis and Justin Abdo — from last year’s team; the two now pitch at Jefferson Davis Community College in Brewton, Ala. However, they return plenty of arms to what should be a strong rotation.
“We’ve probably got more depth — maybe more depth than we had last year,” Tim Gillis said. “I think we have the potential to be pretty good there. It all kind of predicates on somebody getting hot at the end of the year.
“We take care of our pitchers early, especially when the weather is cold. We want to make sure we are stronger at the end (of the season) than at the beginning. We will use that depth early because we have our pitchers on a pitch count.”
Corey Armstrong, a junior, returns for his third year on the mound. Colter Hancock, Travis Wiljakainen and Jordan Chamberlain will join him.
Nate Gerard, Alik Whited and Jared Gaszek also saw mound time on the varsity last year. Jeremy Willis and Ryan Weekley will have a chance on the mound for the varsity after spending last season on the junior varsity squad.
INFIELD
“It’s probably as good of an infield as we’ve had in a while,” Gillis said. “We’ve got some depth there that we haven’t had in the past.
“In high school, it’s a little different, too, because you have a lot of your guys that are going to be pitching. You have to plug them in and play different positions at different times in the game, which is really going to help us.”
Armstrong — who started at second base as a freshman — started at shortstop last year and returns to anchor the middle of the infield.
B.A. Larkins will play short and second. Whited also will spend time at second, along with J.R. Weeks, who can play any infield position.
Hancock and Dayne Justice also will spend time at third. Gaszek will join Weeks at first base.
“It’s going to be kind of a revolving door (on the infield), getting everybody some reps,” Gillis said. “Plus, with us moving pitchers around, everybody’s going to have to be ready to go when they are called up.”
OUTFIELD
“I think it’s pretty good,” Gillis said of the outfield. “We’ve got some guys that can run a little bit, (like) Dustin Kervin, who is returning and had a lot of time last year.
“Austin Polk in centerfield is a good defender out there. Bryant Berry is going to help us. He can really run and play centerfield.”
Zach Degraaf will be in the mix in the outfield as well.
CATCHER
Gerard, who will be the No. 1 catcher, spent the past two seasons backing up four-year starter Austin Armstrong. Armstrong graduated last spring and is another former Bulldog now at Jefferson Davis.
When Gerard is called on to pitch, Degraaf will see time behind the plate.
SCHEDULE
Gillis intentionally set up a tough schedule that will test the team early in the year, and he will be interested to see how the team responds.
“Every year, you are concerned about chemistry and making sure you are getting better,” he said. “Defensively and pitching-wise, we think we are going to be a little better.
“But the schedule is probably the thing that concerns me the most. We want to toughen the schedule up to really help us in the post season time, if we are fortunate enough to get there.
"It’s going to be tough, but it always is.”
Email News Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baseball coach: Crestview's Bulldogs can expect a tough schedule