One of the most frequently quoted strategies from the legendary book of Sun Tzu is that “all war is based on deception.” That being said, we may be letting the cat out of the bag with this preview of the 2011 Phoenixville Phantoms baseball season.
“I think a lot of people will overlook us this season,” said senior pitcher/first baseman Mike Jones. “The PAC-10 is a tough league to play in and everybody always talks about Owen J. Roberts, Boyertown and Spring-Ford, but I think we have the ability to hang with any of those teams.”
The Phantoms are coming off of a 8-7 regular season, 12-10 overall, where they battled Owen J. Roberts in the District One semi-final and they gave the Wildcats all they could handle.
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The 2011 Phantoms lineup will be inundated with a lot of fresh faces as last season’s squad boasted ten seniors, leaving the opportunity for younger players.
“We want to make some noise in the PAC-10 this year,” said Jones. “Teams are going to underestimate us again and we can use that to our advantage. I think we will be able to swing the bats with anyone.”
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Phoenixville has had to adapt during the spring as the construction going on at the school’s fields has limited the amount on turf time the Phantoms have had, but the amount of time spent in the batting cage should pay big dividends when PAC-10 league play starts later this week.
“I am looking forward to this season,” senior right fielder Andy Kaye. “We are hungry and we are ready to challenge the teams that are known for breeding baseball players like Boyertown and Spring-Ford. We start our season with Spring-Ford, which will be a good test for us.”
Phantoms head coach Jack Sturgeon has seen his share of great ball players in his years at the helm, and this year should not be any different as he prepares his young team for the rigors of the PAC-10 league schedule.
“It will be interesting this year,” said Sturgeon. “We will be starting basically a brand new team, which might play to our advantage in the beginning of the season. Spring-Ford is always strong and we play them first. It may me be a good thing to catch them before they shake the rust off.”
“I think we can hit with anyone,” said Kaye. “We have four strong pitchers and go seven deep overall. Our season is going to come down to whether or not the arms can hold up all year.”
Jones and Kaye will be depended on to provide leadership for the young squad and Jones will see a lot of time on the mound if the season progresses according to Sturgeon’s plan.
“I expect to get some quality innings from Mike [Jones] this year,” said Sturgeon. “At this level you go as far as your pitching takes you. We obviously want to compete in the PAC-10 and get back to the district finals.”
“The ways the kids prepare for the season has changed so much over the years,” said Sturgeon. “Most of the kids have an off-season regimen and we have spent a ton of time in the weight room and cages to get ready for the season. With the club ball and legion programs, these guys play ball nine months out of the year.”
