East Clinton finished the 2019 season with a 7-14 record and fifth in the SBAAC National Division standings.
With no season in 2020, the Astros are missing first team All-SBAAC player Zach Mitchell (2019 grad), second team All-SBAAC player Matt Mitchell (2020 grad) and honorable mention player Tristan Burkitt (2020 grad) from that 2019 squad.
Burkitt led the team wit a .453 batting average and four triples. Austin Arellano (2020 grad) led with 16 runs batted in. Matt Mitchell hit .444 and Zach Mitchell hit .448 and stole 19 bases.
Coach Brian Carey also lost Matthew Hall, Matthew Horn, Caden Stewart and Colton Vadnais among others.
This season, Carey will be assisted by Michael Weisenberger, Adam Doerger and Andrew Hubbard.
The top returning player is captain Isaiah Curtis. Carey noted the team does not have any seniors but juniors Curtis, Brody Fisher and Mitchell Bean have stepped up as leaders.
”I’ve coached these boys since seventh grade basketball and they know what I expect from a team,” said Carey.
Carey likes the Astros defense and said the offense “will get it done this year.” As with all teams, pitching will be the key.
”We lost all five of our starting rotation from last year,” said Carey. “We have to throw strikes and allow the other team to put the ball in play. We have little depth in this department.”
After missing last season, Carey said the program’s development must regain the momentum from the previous two contested seasons.
“We were building up to the 2020 season since I came to EC,” said Carey. ” Having last season cancelled was like a punch in the gut. We graduated seven seniors. Many of them had played varsity since their freshman year. I believe last year would have been EC’s breakout season as a baseball program. With zero seniors this year, we can again start building up our younger players confidence and getting them the repetitions to compete this year.
“This team has surprised me already this season. They continue to work hard and really want to be out on the field at all times. I’m proud of their hard work to get better everyday. The leadership is second to none and I firmly believe they have a good handle on the next couple years.”
