Baseball Preview: Indians Doing Some Fine Tuning On Offense and Defense

Jumping out to a 2-1 record to begin the season, Franklin’s hitters have already proven to be capable of delivering the long ball, as two three-run homers sparked each of the Indians victories in their last two games.

So, with so much offensive firepower seemingly up and down the lineup, what did Franklin coach Tim Gordon have his entire team working on for 30 minutes during Monday afternoon’s practice?

Bunting.

“Right now we hit really well. [But] it’s very rare in high school that you live and die by the three-run homer,” Gordon said.  “My concern is, I don’t know if we can beat great pitching. We’re going to hit mediocre and good pitching, but to get to states we’re going to have to beat great pitching...They’re the type of pitching we need to hit and we got to play small ball to win those big time games.”

The “great pitching” Gordon’s referring to includes pre-season All State selection Shane Campbell of Kenwood, the deep rotation at last year’s state champion C. Milton Wright and the other front line starters that Franklin will have to overcome if it plans on making a trip to Ripken Stadium for the state finals.

It’s those pitchers that aren’t likely to give up that three-run homer and that is where situational baseball—such as stealing bases, sacrifice bunting and moving runners along—is absolutely vital to score runs.   

However, Gordon’s senior-laden and remarkably deep lineup possesses the experience and savvy that makes the head coach believe he’s got the right players in place to potentially make that playoff run.

The Indians return three-hole hitter Joey Dorsey, a pre-season All-State player who hit .538 a season ago and will anchor Franklin’s heart of the order.

Following Dorsey in the cleanup role is early-season masher Andy Thompson. The first baseman has already went yard twice this season and will prevent opposing pitchers from pitching around Dorsey.

Pitcher Josh Sherer and catcher Mike Skaro round out the fifth and sixth spots, with Sherer also a threat in the power department and Skaro possessing the ability to hit to all fields. 

Frankin also employs speed in the top of the order with outfielders Ryan Silcott and Brad Dioguardo, as well as contact in the bottom of the lineup with infielder Dustin Halle and No. 2 pitcher and infelder Matt Goodman.

“The whole lineup is just stacked,” Dorsey said. “If you try to walk somebody to avoid them, then the next hitter is just going to kill you because we’re stacked throughout.”  

With hitting and the small-ball approach set be utilized, Gordon and the Indians can turn their attention to defense, the squad’s major Achilles heel from a season ago.

Errors really hurt Franklin’s chances over the course of last year, including in its 8-6 loss to Towson in the Class 3A Region Semifinals.

Looking to remedy the miscues, Gordon moved Dorsey from shortstop to left field (where he already has two outfield assists) and Thompson from third to first base, as well as inserting freshman Tyler Silbersack into the void at short.

The changes have worked. As of Tuesday’s game against Milford Mill, the Indians are currently riding an 11-inning errorless stretch that encompasses their two victories, a 5-3 win over South River and a 15-0 thrashing of Dundalk.

“With the so few errors we’ve made and some of the situations we’ve gotten out of against South River and even early in the Dundalk game it shows that these kids are starting to understand what to do in certain situations and what it takes to get out of big jams,” Gordon said.

The coach even went as far as saying that his squad’s tight, come from behind victory over South River was a game that, last year, the Indians probably would not have pulled out.

Gordon loves how early on in the season, he already sees his players picking one another up if mistakes do occur.

“Just like offensively where you’re asking the next guy to pick you up, you got to have the same thing defensively,” said Gordon, in his third season as head coach. “If someone makes an error you need to pick them up or if the pitcher walks a guy you need the shortstop to lay out and making a diving play in the hole. That’s what we did against Dundalk and we ended up with a shutout.”  

The Indians, as well as Gordon (like any coach), hope to pitch to an abundance of shutouts this season and will rely on Sherer and Goodman to keep opponents off the board.

Sherer, a senior, was Franklin’s workhorse last season, leading the team in innings pitched, while Goodman (called up from JV last season as a sophomore) should provide the perfect complement. Both hurlers possess a repertoire that features there quality pitches.

“At any level, if you can throw three pitches for strikes, you’re going to be successful,” Gordon said of his two pitchers, each possessing a solid fastball, changeup and some variety of a breaking pitch. 

With reliable pitching, a quickly improving defense and an increased emphasis on small-ball and timely hitting, Franklin appears to have all three phases of the game right where they’re supposed to be at this point early in the schedule.  

Sure Gordon takes pleasure in seeing his team easily handle and blow out lesser competition, but it’s the highly contested, close games that he really wants his team to succeed in—especially the ones that are defensive in nature where the hitters have to scratch out runs against great pitching to win.

“The kids, they all love hitting, [but] I told them I’d rather win a game 2-0 than 12-10,” Gordon said. “I think that showed in the South River game, probably a game last year that we don’t squeak out.  We came from behind, won a close game and made quality pitches and quality plays when we had to. If we make the plays were going to be a very difficult team to beat.”