(One In A Series)
ORISKANY — Hoping to build off of last season’s successes, an experienced Oriskany Redskins team is looking to make the next strides and swing past its competition this season.
"It’s really a fun group and a great bunch of kids to work with," said longtime Oriskany head coach Tom Meiss.
"They come ready to work everyday, and I’ve already begun to see their growth at developing their skills."
Last year the young Redskins went 14-7 overall and lost during the Class C-2 semifinals to West Canada Valley.
But now with another year under their belts, Meiss said that he sees having the right combination of talent to lead this team deep for another league and sectional title runs.
"We were very young last year, and inexperienced on defense up the middle, on the mound, and at the catcher position," Meiss said.
"But this year we have all of those spots coming back and they will know what to expect. It won’t be new to them and be like throwing them into the fire like we had to last year. If we play with some confidence defensively, and help our pitchers out, we have the potential to have a fine season," he added.
Weather-permitting, the Redskins open up their season against Hamilton during a non-league game on Wednesday at Oriskany High School beginning at 4:30 p.m.
They will compete in the Center State Conference Division IV league along with Rome Catholic, New York Mills, Old Forge, Poland, and Remsen.
Meiss, who is a Rome Free Academy graduate, has guided the Redskins to the postseason every year he has coached the team and has a 12-5 overall record in the postseason, with back-to-back Section III championship titles in 2006 and ‘07. Meiss also has a career record of 90-43 overall.
The Redskins will be without the services of Ryan Wolanin, Wyatt Kotary, Ed Lee, Travis Tyler, Matt Higgins, and Jake O’Neil, who were all lost to graduation after last year.
However, the Redskins will return 10 players on their 15-man roster including, senior catcher and co-captain Pat Manna, senior pitcher-outfielder and co-captain Nate Keating, senior second baseman-short stop Noah Lupini, senior pitcher-first baseman Steve Rossi, junior third baseman-pitcher Anthony Pickard, junior first baseman-outfielder Trevor O’Bryan, junior second baseman-outfielder Alex Liddy, junior catcher Dan Buehler, junior pitcher-shortstop Austin Smith, and junior outfielder-third baseman Cody Murphy.
Meiss said he expects healthy competition at every position this offseason in getting ready for the season, but he anticipates that Smith, Keating, Rossi, and Manna to likely be his starting rotation.
Rossi led the staff last year with a 5-2 record with a 3.73 ERA, while Smith went 4-3 with a 3.61 ERA and tallied 62 strikeouts, and Keating finished 2-2 with 36 Ks in 31 innings pitched with a 3.87 ERA.
On offense last season, Lupini slugged his way to a .385 batting average, scored 21 runs, and batted in 22 runs, as Smith compiled a .368 average with 20 runs scored, 16 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases.
Newcomers to the team this season include, junior pitcher-outfielder Chaz Koss, junior outfielder Joe Mueck, junior outfielder Connor Foose, and sophomores outfielder Sam Martel, and shortstop-outfielder Vinny Grasso.
