Elkhart baseball hopes to bounce back

ELKHART LAKE – The 2009 Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah baseball team endured a very tough season but hopes to bounce back next year if the players make more of a commitment to the sport.

“Mostly, our season will depend on how much the group of guys worked on getting better in the offseason. It's important at a small school to get what few numbers you have thinking baseball year-round or at least more than just during the few months of summer,” said Resorter head coach Davin Hill.

“While our record [0-21] hasn't shown it, I do think we have made strides in the right direction. The key is getting all the pieces of the puzzle together at one time, not just the edge or the middle.”

Not being at full strength most of the season was the biggest reason the Resorters had such a disappointing season. Three players missed a good portion of the campaign due to ineligibility.

“It was very frustrating not being at full strength. We knew that if we had all of our players eligible and at the practices and games, that we had the opportunity to have a positive season this year.

“We played over 20 games this past summer and not once did we have all of players present and eligible for even one game. Whether it was family trips, work, camps or academic ineligibilities, we just couldn't get the full team to catch stride together and become a ‘team.’

“It was a very tough season. The players and I had somewhat high expectations for this year and after the first week of practice we were very optimistic about having a good season,” Hills said.

“Some unfortunate circumstances and some big mistakes during close games cost us quite a few wins in the CLC.”

Hill did see bright spots in the season, including a good performance in the regional finals against eventual state qualifier New Holstein. The Resorters lost, 6-0, but trailed only 2-0 after five innings.

“We showed we could hang in their with the top teams when we play well and as a team,” he recalled.

“Individually we had a couple players have good years offensively, and a couple other young players showed some good promise on the mound which will hopefully help us in years to come.”

The Resorters were led by three All-CLC players – senior Chris Bullock, named to the first-team utility position, and second-teamers Dane Blake, junior infielder, and freshman Kyle Rentmeester, outfielder.

“Kyle batted over .300 on the season overall, and was a strong leadoff hitter for us,” Hill pointed out. “He almost always put the ball in play and led our team in runs scored.

“Dane batted .317 in conference this year and was someone that the team could always count on to come up with a quality at bat.

“Chris batted .313 overall and .317 in conference play. Those similar averages show the quality of player of Chris this past year. He was always someone we knew who would hit the ball hard every time he came up,” the coach said.

Junior Deric Lightle led Elkhart in batting with a .344 average. Bullock had a team-high 12 RBIs. Rentmeester led in steals and runs scored with 15 each.

Bullock had the pitching staff’s top ERA at 4.20. Rentmeester struck out a team-best 34 batters.