Medina ‘9’ will have titles to defend

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Veteran members of the Medina baseball squad include, in front Zander Payne, Austin Mosher, Trevor Luthart, AJ Seefeldt and Aidan Paul. In back are Brian Fry, Chris Goyette, Zach Fike, Joe Cecchini and Nate Sherman.

Last spring an underclassmen dominated Medina High baseball squad put together a very memorable season capturing Niagara-Orleans League, Section VI Class B and Far West Regional titles to advance to the state semifinals for just the second time in program history.

Now with that lineup returning virtually intact, the Mustangs look to be in strong position to defend those titles once the current Corona virus caused school closing ends and the season gets going.

The starting pitching trio of seniors Trevor Luthart and Chris Goyette along with sophomore Zach Fike, heads the Mustangs veteran contingent. Goyette also plays third base when not on the mound while Luthart and Fike play first base,

The Mustangs also return solid experience up the middle with junior catcher Austin Mosher, the junior middle infield combination of shortstop Brian Fry and second baseman AJ Seefeldt along with senior center fielder Nate Sherman.

Medina’s large veteran contingent also includes sophomore outfielder/third baseman Joe Cecchini, freshman Aidan Paul (pitcher/outfield), sophomore Zander Payne (pitcher/outfield) and junior Corey Saj (outfield/second base).

Luthart, Fry, Seefeldt and Sherman all earned first team N-O All-League honors. Goyette was a second team honoree while Mosher, Cecchini and Fike all received Honorable Mention.

Fry hit .514 with 13 doubles, 6 triples, 4 home runs and 31 RBI;  Seefeldt .481 with 12 double, and 42 RBI; Sherman .333 with 28 RBI and Goyette .364 with 31 RBI.

On the mound, Luthart went 10-1 with 100 strikeouts in 73 innings of work and a 0.96 era and Goyette was 4-0 with 59 strikeouts.

“Our pitching is definitely a strong suit,” said Coach Jon Sherman. “We’re still pretty young but we’ve got great experience. The experience we got going deep into the playoffs really helps us a lot. It’s nice to have a young core like we have but we know we’ll have a bullseye on our back. We’re going to have to stay healthy and do the little things, the basics well, every time out.”

The Mustangs went 10-2 in the league and 21-3 overall.

Now with a veteran laden lineup and a turf field ready to play on the only thing the Mustangs, like all other area teams, are waiting for is for the Corona virus closed schools to reopen so the season can begin. The Mustangs had been scheduled to open the N-O campaign at Wilson on April 2.