MUSKEGON — Last season, Reeths-Puffer relied heavily on a pair of star senior arms - Trent Reichert and Jaxson Whitaker. The results were impressive, with a 22-7 record and a GMAA championship.
This year, the Rockets may not have quite the star power, but coach Butch Attig believes his team has a little more depth, which could pay off in the postseason.
"I love where our defense is, and I love where our pitching and where our depth is," Attig said. "We're going to try and ride that as long as we can. If it comes together the way I think it can come together in the middle and at the end of the season, I think this is a good baseball team going into districts with that one-game (elimination format). We'll be ready for that."
Early returns have been good, as the Rockets have only allowed two runs in two games. Drew Brooks and Jack Yonkman, both experienced players, are big parts of the pitching staff, and R-P has eight seniors who all can play. Catcher Quinn Alderink has made himself a defensive presence, Lukas Johnson and Cade Paugh are threats at the top of the batting order, Brayden Mitchelson can make noise in the middle of the order and Holden Earnest brings steady performance. All are seniors.
The offense isn't in full gear yet - very few teams are in March and early April - but Attig believes they will come around when the temperature warms up and it counts the most.
There's little doubt R-P will be tested by a grueling schedule. The new O-K Green Conference brought in Caledonia, Byron Center and Jenison as league foes, and holdover league mate Mona Shores is consistently as tough an out as any.
The Rockets have also loaded up their schedule with top teams like Traverse City Central, Grand Haven, both Zeeland teams and Whitehall. It might result in more losses, but Attig draws inspiration from the Buccaneers, who had a losing record last year but won Reeths-Puffer's district because they were ready for it.
"I think if you poll every one of the kids, that's the focus, is to hoist that mitten, that trophy at the end of the season," Attig said. "We're not giving away the conference. We're going to compete, but our goal is that we're going to prepare ourselves for the county tournament, and we're going to prepare ourselves for the end of the year and that district run."
And if those wins come at the end of the year, it's a good bet the Rocket seniors will be leading the way.
"I'm proud of our senior leadership," Attig said. "We're going to talk about that all year when we have wins...That's going to be huge, riding those eight seniors."
