GM boys baseball preview: ‘We want the ‘ship’

By Evan Chadwick
©2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC

CHESTER

Baseball is about fundamentals, an exercise in perfecting the minor details in an effort to maximize your overall efficiency. When asked about what the Green Mountain baseball team’s goals were for the year, senior Chase Swisher was as efficient as it gets.

“We want the ‘ship,” said Swisher using a slang term for the championship.

With a solid core of returners from last year’s 7-9 regular season squad, Coach Matt McCarthy’s boys may just have what it takes to turn Swisher’s goal into a reality.

“We have a good group,” said McCarthy. “A lot of our guys have been around for a few years. They will need to step up.”

The regulars include starting pitchers Kagan Hance, Branden Rose and Chase Swisher, who are expected to see significant work during the 2022 campaign and were warming up on the simulated pitcher’s mounds that fit snugly onto the hardwood floor of the GM gymnasium on Monday afternoon.

“The big question for our rotation this year is whether we can get ahead in the count,” said McCarthy. “We struggled with that some last year.”

If his pitching staff can throw strikes, McCarthy is confident that the defense, led by catcher Tanner Swisher, will be up to the task when the ball is put into play.

“This is one of the best defensive teams I have had,” said McCarthy.

Unfortunately for GM, the weather has not cooperated in a manner that would allow McCarthy to put his theory to the test, as the damp fields and unpredictable temperatures have precluded his team from getting more than a brief stint of outdoor practice.

“We have used part of our field for one day,” said McCarthy, who despite mother nature’s hurdles, has kept the boys busy throughout their first few weeks, but is looking forward to regular outdoor practices.

The Chieftains have little time to get tuned in, with scrimmages scheduled for Monday, April 4 with Mount Anthony and the following Monday, April 11, in Brattleboro before GM opens the regular season on Friday, April 15, when they travel to Poultney.

The numbers remain solid

Beyond the play that will transpire at the varsity level, the numbers remain solid for the baseball program, as 22 players have signed up for the season, allowing McCarthy to maintain a full Junior Varsity squad, which is anticipated to have a full slate of games, their first scheduled for Monday, April 18, at Springfield.