Justin Lawson
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 5/06/2008
When the Reno baseball team walks up to Zunini Field every day for practice, the players walk past a sign that stands just above their heads at the entrance that reads, “We believe.”
Last year, when Reno missed the playoffs, they still believed in themselves and now the returning players have worked that belief into a Sierra League championship and a No. 1 seed in the Northern 4A Regional playoffs, which begins today. The Huskies might be the favorite to win the North this season.
“I’m sure we’re all going to be ready and pumped up,” said Kegan Peterson, who could be the starting pitcher for the Huskies in their first round game today against Spanish Springs. “We’ve been waiting for this for two years and for some of us, it’s our last year.”
Peterson said the Huskies seem to be peaking as they head into playoffs and if that’s true the rest of the North better watch out because Reno has been one of the most consistent teams all season. Peterson posted five wins, struck out 43 batters and led the North with a 0.00 ERA. His teammate, Drew Simpson, led the North in wins with six and led the Sierra League in innings pitched with 32.
“We’re all coming together a lot more this year and our team chemistry is really good right now,” Peterson said. “We all have one goal and that’s to continue to play and hopefully win state so we’re just going to take it one game at a time.”
As good as the Huskies have been all season, Bishop Manogue, the other No. 1 seed in the tournament, has been nearly as impressive. Joe Wieland has done just about anything the Miners have asked of him. He has a 0.24 ERA, 52 strikeouts, 31 runs batted in and a 1.225 slugging percentage, which all lead the High Desert League.
But in Wieland’s last game against Damonte Ranch, the Miners’ first-round opponent, Manogue lost a 1-0 game on a wild pitch.
“I’m sure we’ll see him and we had a good matchup against him last time in the preseason tournament and we’re certainly expecting to have a battle again,” Damonte coach Jon Polson said.
Of all the teams in the tournament, the fourth-seeded Mustangs might have the most to prove. Damonte started off the year on a 13-game win streak before the wheels fell off and the team went 3-7 over its next 10 games.
The good news for the Mustangs is their No. 1 pitcher is back in the rotation after missing most of the season. Jake Johnson injured his hand in a preseason game on March 12. The senior made several appearances at the end of the season so he would be ready for the playoffs.
Last year’s Northern champs, Galena, is looking to get back to the championship game for the fourth consecutive year. The No. 2-seeded Grizzlies have been playing the best baseball of their season with Jacob Anderson toeing the mound along with Joshua Evans emerging as a possible successor to Anderson. Hitting has never been an issue for Galena with Anderson, Scott Underwood , Eric Underwood and Jake Hess doing the most damage in the middle of the lineup.
If Galena beats No. 3 Carson in the first round, it could set up a rematch of a 2006 second-round game in which the second-seeded Grizzlies beat the No. 1-seed Huskies on their way to a Northern championship.
With all adversity Reno would have to overcome to win the Northern championship, the Huskies are reverting back to what got them here in the first place: belief.
“If we come together and all want it as much as we do right now, we could go as far as we want,” Reno infielder Glenn Wallace said.