Shady Side Academy baseball opens season 2-4

The Shady Side Academy baseball team has a new look this year after graduation hit the team hard.

“In my 17 years of coaching, I have never encountered a season like this,” SSA coach Bob Grandizio, Jr. said. “Last year, we had 10 seniors and eight of them were starters. We had so many openings on varsity and a late spring break that I did not finalize a varsity roster until the first week of April.”

So far, the Indians are 2-4 with wins over Bishop Canevin and Sto Rox. They lost all four games they played on their annual spring break trip to Disney World's ESPN Wide World of Sports.

“We played really tough opponents in Monsignor Bonner from Philadelphia and Oldham County High School and University Heights Academy, both from Kentucky,” Grandizio said.

Senior captains Eric Yoest (P/CF) and Tyler Gorse (P/2B) are the only two returning players with any consistent varsity experience. Gorse will play at Mt. Union next year.

Other seniors who contribute are Killian Cavanaugh (SS), Mario Lagnese (OF), Luke Fitzgerald (3B/1B) and Will George (1B). Underclassmen playing key roles are juniors Nick Tarasi (P/INF) and Kirf Olander (1B/P/OF) and sophomores Luke Keenan (C) and Ben Kosbie (OF).

“Tarasi and Gorse are a talented 1-2 pitching combination on the mound and will start the majority of our games,” the coach said. “Yoest and Olander will pitch primarily in relief, but both have started games this year as well.

“Cavanaugh and Kosbie have been standouts at the plate thus far and Luke Keenan is a very talented catcher with a bright future.”

Providing depth is a strong group of underclassmen — juniors Ryan Leslie (OF) and Christian Chybrzynski (OF); sophomores Josh Morrow (C), Nick Becker (P/OF) and Chris Guttman (INF) and freshmen Billy Frohlich (OF/P) and Tevin Anderson (INF/P).

“Despite our inexperience, this is a talented group that works hard and has already made great strides,” Grandizio said. “I expect that we will continue to make dramatic improvements as the season progresses, and we expect to win the section and contend in the playoffs. That is always our expectation. We have great numbers and real talent in our sophomore and freshmen classes too, so we are excited about the future of the program.”

Marty Stewart is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-782-2123 or mstewart@tribweb.com.