Trio of Underclassmen Stepping Into Leadership Roles on the Simley Baseball Team

The Simley baseball team earned its third win of the season on Thursday, defeating
rival South Saint Paul 5-1 in a Classic Suburban Conference clash.

Sophomore pitcher and third baseman Brody Schintz picked up the win and continued his strong play this season. Schintz is part of a strong group of talented underclassmen who are beginning to make their mark on the field for the Spartans. While the team only has a 3-21 record heading into the final week of play before Section 3AA playoffs on May 27, there have been plenty of individual bright spots this season.

Schintz is one of those bright spots. He's been playing on the varsity since eighth grade and currently leads the team with a .426 batting average. Head coach Stanley Winnie said Schintz is the hardest thrower on the team and is lethal from the plate.

"He's an absolute threat every time he's up to bat," said Winnie. "He hits in the three hole for us as a sophomore and could hit in the three hole for just about any team in the conference."

Sophomore Logan Busch and freshman Anthony Poole also play a signficant role — both offensively and defensively— on the team. Busch, a left-handed pitcher, has a .317 batting average, while Poole, another lefty, had an ERA of 2.06 heading into action this week.

As of Tuesday Schintz, Busch and Poole were responsible for 57 percent of the team's innings pitched and 67 percent of the team’s strikeouts.

"Anthony is very athletic," said Winnie. "He doesn't overpower people but he pitches smart. He dominated at the JV level so we felt he could eventually have success at the varsity level and he's coming along nicely."

"Logan, we have him hitting in the number four spot and he's a good solid hitter and a good pitcher that has a lot of movement," said Winnie. "These guys, they are playing against many older kids, but they have proven they can play at this level.”

Schintz, Busch and Poole all admitted it took some adjustment playing at the varsity level but the jitters are now ancient history.

"It's different, there's definitely more talent and it's more competitive playing varsity," said Poole. "You can't get away with things you could playing against kids your own age, but I think we all like the challenge because we are competitive and want to improve."

"We've struggled to get wins but we have some talent in the program," said Winnie. "These guys are going to continue to get better and with many other solid underclassmen the future looks bright."

Schintz agreed.

"We have some good players coming up and if we work hard and play together we can keep it going," he said.