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Bucs hoping to develop winning attitude on the baseball diamond
The Belvidere Bucs are coming off a baseball season in which they finished 7-21 overall and 6-12 in NIC-10 play. After a 0-8 start, the Bucs finished the year by going 7-13.
Belvidere and their head coach, Taylor Rogers, should hope to avoid another slow start in 2024. Rogers, in his third year at the helm, holds a career coaching record of just 12-40. The Bucs saw an increase in wins in Rogers’ second year, and they look to take another step forward this season.
The Bucs will have to replace a couple of big bats from their lineup, including Dylan Bear, David Guerrero and Ryan Jensen. The good news is, they return an experienced group of five starters, all of whom are seniors. Blake Stark holds it down behind home plate, while Wes Cortez is a pitcher-second baseman-outfielder. Mike White is back in the outfield and Tray Williams does a bit of everything as an outfielder-shortstop-pitcher. Malin Panteleo also returns as an outfielder.
Cortez was one of the team’s top bats last year with a .353 batting average and a team-leading twenty-four hits. He also showed promise on the mound with 19 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched. Williams wasn’t far off. In 17 games, Williams hit .341 with 10 runs batted in.
Rogers doesn’t expect much power from this year’s lineup, but he has plenty of faith in their bats.
“Our starting lineups will be good. We should put the ball in play a lot more this year and give ourselves chances to be on the bases,” Rogers shared.
The Bucs are going to rely on contact and baserunning to produce runs, however.
“Our team power won’t be our strength this year. We will be a gap-to-gap baseball team, not so much over the fence type of team,” Rogers added.
Rogers also has high praise for Stark behind the plate.
“Blake Stark behind the plate gives us the best catcher in the area. Not a slight on any other team’s catchers, I think Blake is that good though,” Rogers shared.
Last year, Stark had a .931 fielding percentage, which led all Belvidere players with over 20 games played. Stark also happens to be the leader of the FFA.
Stark should raise the play of his catchers on the mound, which Rogers also praised.
“Our top couple arms should be solid this year and our relievers will give us a chance to stay in games,” Rogers shared, adding that, “In a short playoff series, we are set up well on the mound.”
Perhaps most importantly, Rogers and his staff are hoping to see the program learn how to win. Teams that know how to win can put away games, complete comebacks and just carry an overall higher level of confidence. Blaise Humphrey, Justin Brown and Mike Daugherty are all among this year’s staff.
Rogers also mentioned Zac Baden, who “Unfortunately wasn’t able to coach this year, but has been instrumental in the growth the last two years.”
Rogers’ staff is hoping to see this develop throughout the season.
“Winning. We have struggled to win. I think we have the potential to win this year, but until we prove it on the field, a giant need of improvement is the vibe and feel of winning,” Rogers shared, when asked where his team needs to improve.
The 2024 Bucs also sport an exciting trio of juniors in pitcher-outfielder Gio Urbieta, utility infielder Chris Medina, and third baseman-first-baseman Nathan Steurer. Rogers is excited about the group and mentions that if they all have good years, they have potential to play at the next level.
Even more youthful, Rogers said, “We have a really solid freshman and sophomore class that, with positive growth this year, is going to help this program blossom in the next couple years.”
The Bucs open their 2024 season on March 11, when they play host to DeKalb at 4:30 p.m. The next day, they travel to take on Harvard, before returning home to play host to Rockford Christian at 4:30 p.m. on March 14.
