Local Sports Journal

Whitehall baseball coach Warren Zweigle watched six key players graduate from last season’s team.

That included two pitchers who combined for 16 victories. The Vikings finished 22-11 overall and 9-5 in the conference. That was good for third place a year ago.

However, Zweigle, who is entering his 19th season, has high hopes for his squad. That’s because he’s got all-conference pitcher Zach Zweigle (5-3, 2.58 ERA, .382 batting average) along with catcher Noah Robart (.304) and outfielder Ray Copley back for this coming season.

“We are going to be really super young this year, but that’s not always a bad thing,” Coach Zweigle said. “We have some very talented sophomores.”

That group includes Cheston Manns (pitcher/DH), Jake Gilhesphy (pitcher/infield), Derek Baker (shortstop) and Ian Zweigle (pitcher/outfield).

“The conference is going to be wide open this year, but Shelby, Oakridge and North Muskegon all have nice teams,” Zweigle said. “I would like to think we will be right in the mix, but that will depend on how fast our young kids adjust to varsity baseball.”