The first pitches will soon be thrown | Spring Sport Previews

As we leave the dreary winter weather behind us, the Kentlake, Kentwood and Tahoma baseball and softball teams take the field for the new season.

Kentlake

Baseball

Brett Jaime returns for his third season coaching the Falcons baseball team.

The Falcons finished last season at .500 with a 12-12 record. Jaime said the team was two wins shy of a state playoff appearance.

This season, he expects the team “to play hard and enjoy the process of being a high school athlete.”

Several of Kentlake’s all-league players graduated but Jaime said the Falcons are returning “a wealth of talent.”

Jaime said a few key players to keep an eye on this upcoming season are the Falcons pitchers – sophomores Dylan Mackie and Jordon Wright, junior Caleb Jaime and senior Alan Vasquez.

He added Matt Mollenberg and Luke Wilson are the team’s captains and are “fantastic leaders.”

The Falcons take the field today for the first pitch of the 2015-2016 season in an away game against Graham Kapowsin. The game is set to start at 4 p.m.

“We can’t wait to get going,” Jaime said. “Fans should expect to see a team on the field that enjoys each other, enjoys the game and enjoys the process of competition.”

The Falcons first home game is 4 p.m. Thursday, March 17 when it hosts Timberline.

Softball

Greg Kaas has coached softball for 35 seasons and he returns to Kentlake to coach the Falcons.

He said this is his first year of his second stint as head coach at Kentlake.

A key player the Falcons will play without this season is Katie Habryle. Kaas said she is playing at Bradley University.

Some players to keep an eye on this season are pitcher Allyson Overall, Ashley Hendrickson who plays catcher, pitcher and first baseman, first baseman Kianna Kingsley, Brooke Bennett who spends time at both first and second base, shortstop Jordan Engman, utility players Maddy Seumalo and Maggie Brach and centerfielder Kalina Despain.

The Falcons softball season begins at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15 against West Seattle.

Kentlake returns home Thursday, March 17 for a 6 p.m. game against Spanaway Lake.

Kaas encourages fan to “come out, enjoy some ball and throw down a hot dog or two!”

Kentwood

Baseball

The Conquerors made the state quarterfinals last season where its season ended with a 1-0 loss to Gig Harbor. Kentwood finished the 2014-2015 season with a 22-5 record.

The Conks return to the field under the coaching of Mark Zender who enters his 33rd year of coaching baseball. This will be his fifth season coaching at Kentwood.

Entering this season, Zender said “we always have high expectations.” He added, “we play in a very competitive league, which makes us better.”

The Conks enter the new season down eight players. Zender said, “They were a group that provided terrific leadership and totally bought into our program.”

He added, those graduated seniors, “set a high bar for years to come on how to work as a team.”

This year, Kentwood will rely on new guys, “who have paid their dues in our program waiting their turn,” he said. Along with new players, Zender said there are some key returners as well.

Zender said key newcomers to watch are senior Jacob McCord who plays both outfield and infield, senior Trenton Harris who pitches and plays first base, senior outfielder Garrett Stewart and senior outfielder Daniel Tanaka.

Returners to keep an eye on this year are senior pitcher Jordan Jones, senior shortstop Isaac Hegamin, senior pitcher and infielder Ben Wadowski and junior catcher Shane McGuire.

The Conks begin the season facing Liberty High School first in the Liberty Jamboree at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 12.

Kentwood will return home to Covington for a 4 p.m. first pitch on Thursday, March 17 when the Conks host Redmond.

Softball

Jason Wisor enters his ninth season coaching the Conks softball team.

Last season, Kentwood finished in third place in the South Puget Sound League with a 13-5 record. Overall, the Conks finished 15-10.

Wisor said the Conks graduated its top three players from last year.

Wisor said three key returners this season are sophomore infielder and pitcher Lagi Palaita, sophomore catcher and infielder Mina Sagapolutele and junior pitcher and first baseman Taylor Lott.

“This year we will be pretty young and looking to build on the success from last season while having to make up for our three holes that were created by the three that graduated,” he said.

The 2015-2016 season begins Monday, March 14 with a 4 p.m. against Puyallup. The Conks return home for a 4 p.m. game Tuesday, March 22 when it hosts Mount Rainier.

Tahoma

Baseball

Russ Hayden is entering his 24th season coaching at the high school level, all of which have been with the Bears.

Tahoma finished in second place in the SPSL and played in the district tournament last season.

When asked what Hayden expects for this season he said, “that’s up in the air, pretty much a brand new lineup (this year).”

He continued by saying the Bears graduated 14 seniors from last year’s team.

Tahoma enters the new season with a young team “with a lot of talent.” He added “time will tell” who are key players to keep an eye on.

“We have to see how they react to playing varsity baseball,” Hayden said.

The Bears throw out the first pitch at noon Saturday, March 12 at Emerald Ridge. Tahoma returns home next week for a 4 p.m. start time Tuesday, March 15 against Bethel.