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Preseason Countdown: No 30 Chaparral

February 26, 2015

By John Cackowski
State Director

Leading up to the start of the high school season, we will count down the top 50 preseason teams every day as part of our comprehensive season coverage. The top 50 teams are picked from all classifications, and are not divided up by class level. To see the entire list click here

Team: Chaparral
Preseason Rank: 30
2014 Record: 13-10
Conference: Continental
CHSAA Class: 5A
Head Coach: Tony Persichina
Playoff Run: Lost to Cherry Creek 7-3 in Final 8
2014 Final Rank: 13
Returning Starters: 5
Returning Pitchers: 3

TOP PLAYERS:
Addison Kaasch, SS/RHP, 2015
Aaron Hammann, 2B/RHP, 2016
Ryan Steinert, LHP/1B, 2016
Spencer Olwell, OF, 2015
Davis Clark, INF/RHP, 2015
Jonah Jenkins, C, No. 10 2017


X-FACTOR:
Who's the No. 1 Pitcher? The Wolverines only return 32 of 150 innings of experience from 2014 to get through an always touch Continental League. 17 of which came from Aaron Hammann, look for LHP Ryan Steinert, RHP Davis Clark, to eat up some innings.

NEW PLAYER TO WATCH:
No. 10 2017 Jonah Jenkins: 5-foot-11, 165-pound right-handed hitting catcher, strong lower half, hits from a balanced setup, with strong lower leg drive, fluid rhythm, hands load back, gets foot down early, long, slightly uphill bat path, 79 mph exit velocity. Defensively, pop times ranged from 1.99-2.02, short, over-the-top arm slot, consistent accuracy on the bag, feet work well coming out of the chute, one of the top defensive backstops at the Underclass Invitational.  Ran a 4.6 home to first

KEY PLAYERS LOST:
Josh Nicol and Keenan Eaton (Wichita State)

STAT RAT:
The Wolverines only hit 13 homeruns in 2014, but 6 of them came from 2015 grad Addison Kaash (2), and 2016 grads Aaron Hammann, (2), and Ryan Steinert (2) all being team leaders in that category.

BOTTOM LINE:
In 2014 the Wolverines had an up and down season. Always talented and versatile, the Wolverines saw themselves at 6-5 in the Continental League and going into districts with an 11-8 overall record only to get hot at the right time. The Wolverines won their first game against Praire View 11-8, then had one of the most impressive wins in the state last spring knocking out the Columbine Rebels who were 19-1 at the time in the district 3 championship game by a score of 12-3 to advance to the 5A Final 8. The Wolverines return 2015 Addison Kaasch who was one of their top hitters in 2014 as a junior hitting .444 with 15 RBI's and 2 HR. 2016 Aaron Hammann got 60 AB in 2014 as a sophomore hitting .317 and had 2 HR. Ryan Steinert was another sophomore in 2014 who got a lot of playing time hitting 2 HR as well. Spencer Olwell and Davis Clark will provide senior leadership in 2015 for the Wolverines. Led by Head Coach Tony Persichina, you know the Wolverines will be well coached and have a versatile offense that can play small ball and also hit for power. Look for the Wolverines to have new faces with under the radar depth to make anothe 5A playoff run.

 

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