From Top Clockwise: Charles Acker, Dawson Netz, Max Blessinger, Marco Martinez By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor Maranatha finds itself in an unfair situation. They are so stacked with talent/depth both on the mound and at the plate, that people looking in from the outside might assume they can just show up and talent alone will […]
From Top Clockwise: Charles Acker, Dawson Netz, Max Blessinger, Marco Martinez
By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor
Maranatha finds itself in an unfair situation.
They are so stacked with talent/depth both on the mound and at the plate, that people looking in from the outside might assume they can just show up and talent alone will spell victory each time they take the field.
And when they lose a game every so often, there will be those who might ponder ‘what’s wrong with Maranatha?’
But for anyone who’s played or coached this game, we all know it’s not that easy.
Baseball is not only the most humbling sport because of the high failure rate, it’s also the most difficult to exploit an opponents lack of talent, because so much of the game is determined by one player on any given night, and that’s obviously the pitcher.
But with all that said, no team enters the 2018 season with better or more talent in the Pasadena area or more potential of winning a CIF championship as do the Minutemen.
Matt Shupper’s program is as well coached as anyone in the area and his star players rival anyone in both skill and statistics.
Marco Martinez, the reigning Pasadena Sports Now co-Baseball Player of the Year, is an incredible talent and is headed to USC if he doesn’t like his draft position in June.
Martinez hit .438 last year with 35 hits (11 extra-base), and drove in a team-best 25 RBI.
Max Blessinger had a remarkable sophomore year at second base and he set a school-record with 34 stolen bases.
Blessinger finished last year with 40 hits, drove in 19 runs and hit .421.
Dawson Netz is someone to watch both on the mound and at the plate.
Netz is a strikeout machine on the mound with 68 in just 47 innings pitched.
He won 5 games on the mound with a 0.88 ERA, and he hit .301 and drove in 13 runs.
Charles Acker, a hard-throwing lefty is one of the keys if MHS is to win an Olympic League and CIF title.
Acker won 7 games on the mound with a 1.29 ERA and had a team-high 69 strikeouts in 48 innings.
Acker also did his part at the plate, hitting .352, with 15 RBIs.
Casey Popham had a solid freshman season with a .323 average and 10 RBI, and he also had a 0.95 ERA on the mound.
Ben Guess and Dante Campione combined for 41 hits and 15 RBI.
Key newcomers include sophomore Ethan Firestone, who will catch and is an offensive threat.
Luke Watson, another sophomore, will pitch and play the outfield, and is being recruited by Oregon State.
Junior Nick Iverson has great hands at shortstop and has already committed to UC Davis.
When all its players are healthy and/or eligible to play after transferring, and barring injury, this MHS team is going to be fun to watch.
They are well a coached, intelligent, hard working and fundamentally sound program.
MHS has all the pieces to make an Olympic League and CIF-SS championship type run.
It’s now just a matter of the Minutemen executing on the mound and at the plate with runners in scoring position.
And for those in the area who love fundamental, disciplined baseball, Jackie Robinson Stadium at Brookside Park is the place to watch the area’s best program.
Quotable:
Maranatha coach Matt Shupper: “These guys play really well together and have tremendous talent. They know that talent doesn’t win baseball games, so they compete every day to out-work each other. We are focused on our team and what we need to do to be prepared to give us our best chance of success.”
Maranatha senior Marco Martinez: “My role is to lead by example on and off the field and to play to my capability. We have a lot more speed than in past years, so that will help us play aggressive baseball. We’ve had trouble making mental mistakes, but that can be easily fixed throughout the season. We just need to play our game, manage all of our mistakes as well as not pushing for things to happen…but making them happen.”
Maranatha junior Dawson Netz: “I feel like my role this year is mostly dependent upon my performance on the mound and eating up innings throughout the season. I expect our team to have some early struggles with the absence of our transfers, but once they come back, I believe our team will be solid. We have a lot more depth in terms of speed and power, where as last year we relied mostly on base hits. We have everything necessary to win, it’s just a matter of putting it all together.”
