Central Private Looks Strong in Preseason Tournament

 

 

    Central Private looks to make a little noise this season with a maturing class made up mostly of 6 seniors and 11 juniors.  The seniors on this team are motivated and determined to make this a special year for coach Kinchen and the Rebel baseball program.  The Rebels got off on the right foot by playing 3 divisional foes in a preseason tournament at Bowling Green this past week.  With a quality pitching staff and an extremely stingy defense, the Rebels walked through the three game set in impressive fashion. In the first game, Central Private played the host team, Bowling Green.  The Rebel bats looked to be in mid-season form recording 12 runs while the pitching staff and defense held Buccaneers to 2 runs.  Chase Martin, Hunter Wallace and Ryan Young combined for the 5 inning decision on the mound allowing only 3 hits with 0 walks.  In game 2 the Rebels faced off with defending state champions Centreville Academy in a 7 – 0 game.  Pitchers Grant Wideman, Jonathan Nicosia, and Seth Stevens combined for a 4 K, 2 hit game that was complimented with a solid hitting performance by the Rebels as they faced several of the Tigers top pitchers.  In game 3 Central Private played a new team in their district, Oak Forest Academy.  Oak Forest is the defending state champions from class 3A, giving the Rebels district two defending state champions going into this season.  The Rebels led by the pitching of Brennan Fucich, Blake Chelette and Brad Miller held on to take a 9 – 2 decision giving up only four hits. 

    The Rebels head coach, Jason Kinchen had this to say about the team heading into the 2012 season.  “The team put in a lot of work this off-season and has the right mind-set of what lies ahead of them.  I feel that we are a veteran team with lots of experience under our belt.  A lot of these guys have been with me a while and know my system like the back of their hand.  Our strong points this season will be solid defense and depth in our pitching staff. If our hitting comes alive like we know it will, we should be tough to beat.  Centreville will be the team to beat in our district being that they have not lost anyone from last year. There are several players to watch on our team this year and all are committed to the idea of team.  Come out and support us this year.   We will be fun to watch.”