Moraine Valley baseball ready to face the 2016 season

There are a plenty of unknowns for the Moraine Valley Community College baseball team this season—how will they perform especially with so many newcomers, will the roster withstand potential injuries, how well will they gel on the field—and they’re ready to face them all starting with an intense spring training trip.

The Cyclones have just five returners, two of those being starters from last season—outfielder Ryan Trokey (Sandburg) and shortstop Jorge Hernandez (Reavis). Second baseman Zach Moravec (Tinley Park) and pitchers Jeff Kosiek (Sandburg) and Dan Kipp (St. Rita) round out the returners. Kosiek and Kipp performed well on the mound with higher expectations this season for southpaw Kosiek.

Among the new transfer students who should contribute at the plate are third baseman Shawn Chiaramonte (Richards/North Central College), infielder Matt Barajas (Reavis/Dominican University) and first baseman Luke O’Sullivan (Brother Rice/Capital University). Pitcher Joe Funkhouser (Oak Forest/College of DuPage) will be a dual force on the mound and at the plate.

Last season the Cyclones suffered a barrage of injuries, necessitating players fill in atypical positions, particularly behind the plate. With three catchers in reserve this year, the Cyclones are in better standing. All three—Tyler O’Connell (Sandburg), Anthony Lauciello (Sandburg) and Lael Robles (Reavis)—have been putting in the work with each one able to start on any given day.

Before they run full swing into the season, the Cyclones are heading to Florida for spring training (March 12-20) at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational, where 324 teams from 250 schools face each other. This is Moraine Valley’s first time in the tournament, and they’re set to play 10 games.

“This is a great learning experience. That’ll show us where we stand, and we’ll have a great idea of how we look. It’ll be tough playing 10 games in eight days, but everyone will play, and we’ll see who steps up,” said head Coach Mike Kane, who begins his second season leading the Cyclones.

This year Kane has two assistants, General McArthur III and Scott Trokey, both with travel baseball coaching experience. That has already helped divvy up responsibilities and attention on more players.

With a freshmen heavy roster, Kane is unsure of what this season will bring. Many newcomers still have to be tested at the college level and will do so with some goals in mind. “We need to get double digit wins and get better every game. In Florida, everyone will play, then shortly after that we start conference games, and hopefully we’ll have the lineup set. We want to get better every game and not make the same mistakes from one game to the next,” Kane said. “We hit a lot in the batting cage this winter, and guys made adjustments. We have more depth this year than last year, so if someone gets hurt, we have people who can step in. I’m excited and looking forward to the season. I hope to be pleasantly surprised.”

Visit www.morainevalley.edu/athletics or follow the Cyclones on Facebook at morainevalleycyclones and Twitter @MVCyclones.