Area baseball teams prepare for 2001 high school season By JEFF OLSON Special to The Gazette After being No. 1 in the state last year in baseball and finishing with an overall record of 18-2, the SPASH Panthers found it hard to lose to the No.2 team, when the baseball tournaments rolled around last year. In spite of losing that tough game, head coach George Roman thought the year went well. "It was a super year last year," said Roman. As for this year, the Panthers lost 15 out of the 20 players that were on the roster last year. "It will be a rebuilding year for us," said Roman. "We'll have a good everyday hitting ball club, but we are short in pitching this year." As for a standout athlete and student for the Panthers, senior Kyle Bohm, who plays just about every position, will be the one that will have to step up this year in order for the Panthers to make an impact. He will be attending Auburn University next year and is a valedictorian for this year's class. The Panthers do hope to get back to where they were last year, but it will definitely be tough, since most people pick them to finish fourth in the conference this year. Pacelli Everything was going well for the Stevens Point Pacelli baseball team last year, they finished with an overall record of 15-6, that is until they got to the WISAA state tournament. "When we got down there, everything just went down hill," said head coach Wayne Sankey. This year's team has six out of eight position players returning and also two pitchers, which are a mix of seniors and young guys. "It will be a balanced year," said Sankey. "The guys have high expectations for this year." But do not look for just one player to be the standout this year for the Cardinals. They are going to have to rely on everybody on the team in order to be successful. "Somebody different will have to step up every game," said Sankey. This year's team hopes to make it to the WIAA tournament. Rosholt After finishing the year off with an overall record of 17-5 and third in the conference last year, the Rosholt Hornets will have most of their ball club back, as 12 guys who lettered for them last year will return. "We have a much better team this year," said head coach Jack Brooks. Look out for the Hornets pitching as they have juniors Brice Domask, John Stanislawski and Brad Zdroik and senior Tom Stanislawski all returning. "We have a slew of pitchers on this team," said Brooks. Not only do the Hornets have the pitching, they also have the defense to back them up. The Hornets have a letterman returning at every position on defense. They will have a very well-rounded team this year, because they also have the batter, sophomore Randy Prince returning as well. "Right now, we are hitting the ball good," said Brooks.