Baseball Preview: St. Charles Looking to Bounce Back

St. Charles High School

Team Name: Pirates

2010 Record: 8-18, 3-3 GAC North

Head Coach: Charles Meeker, who has been the Pirates’ manager since 1992.

Key Positions: Starting pitching will be key. Meeker’s club was heavily impacted by injuries to its starting rotation last season, which proved to be an insurmountable obstacle. But with key starters Connor Brett, Austin Olendorff and Trevor Miller back and healthy, the Pirates seem poised for a turnaround season. Each of those three starters is a returning senior. Brett led the team with 45.3 innings pitched last season.

“We do return most of our pitchers, and that should be a real strength for us,” Meeker said. “I like for our starters to go deep into games, though last year with the injuries, that was a factor.

“We have three really good starters back, but we definitely need more depth behind them. You can never have enough depth when it comes to pitching, and that’s true on all levels of baseball.”

Offense: Meeker is looking for his team to hit more line drives and to get more back-to-back hits. He is not concerned with power numbers. He is looking for Olendorff and Brett to anchor the Pirates’ offense along with senior infielder Matt Mitchell, who hit .435 last season with a team-best 30 hits. When asked for the key numbers from last season, Meeker dismisses the topic. He insists that he does not break down numbers like many coaches and said last season’s numbers essentially mean nothing to him once the season concludes.

“I can’t even tell you what their numbers were from last season because once the season ends, we kind of erase everything and get ready to start fresh. I just don’t get too focused on numbers and like to start new and not get too focused on the past,” Meeker said.

“We will need to scrap for runs, and I’d like to see us do a better job of putting back-to-back hits together and get more timely hits and productive outs.”

The Pirates hit very few home runs last season, with Olendorf leading the team with three.

“We are not trying not trying to knock out the ball out of park, but want to hit more line drives, be consistent and try to be productive all the time. You can get two hits in an inning and not score, but you can get one hit and score if the hitters are always doing their job.”

Expectations: After the disappointment of the 2010 season, St. Charles is primed to make a run at a winning season and possibly contend in the GAC North. The Pirates were 14-13 two seasons ago and return a deep, experienced roster.

“My goal is just to be competitive. I think in our league, with so many good teams, that being competitive all the time is really hard,” Meeker said. “So, we like to just focus on that, and not worry too much about anything else.”

Key Games: The relentless spring baseball schedule kicks off on March 21. The first conference game is against Parkway North High School on March 25. The Pirates will play rival St. Charles West High School on April 13 and April 21. For the complete season schedule, please click here.

“I think our kids get a little more fired up for the city schools and for St. Charles West. But with our conference being so good, there’s a lot of great opportunities and our kids have plenty of games to get excited about.”

Overview: There is no obvious favorite in the GAC North, but there will definitely be a new league champion this season. Timberland won the conference in 2010, but has moved to the larger GAC South beginning this season. The GAC does not have preseason rankings.

There has also been some shifting with district groupings. The Pirates are in Class 4 District 7, along with Christian Brothers College High School (CBC), DeSmet Jesuit High School, Francis Howell North High School, Parkway Central High School, Parkway North and Pattonville High School.

“There is no clear-cut favorite. In our league, you cannot overlook anyone, and there are lots of good teams,” said Meeker. “Our district was already very competitive, and now we have moved to a new district that will be at least as competitive.”