Rams baseball kicks off SIP action
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AWAITING — Mount Vernon’s Alex Kiefer watches a pitch Wednesday against Centralia.
By Paul Hines
Sentinel Sports Staff
MOUNT VERNON — After a short break, the Rams baseball team is back in action for the Southern Illinois Prospect League.
This is the third straight summer the Rams have been a member of the league, and Mount Vernon coach Pierce Borah said it gives his players flexibility. They can play with their high school teammates Monday through Thursday. Players then can compete for travel ball teams on the weekends.
“We can have our guys with us throughout the summer, throughout the month of June,” Borah said. “They can also go and get that development in the travel ball area as well. So we can do both. We can work on our guys and our system throughout the week. And then on the weekend, they can go out and play travel ball. We encourage that.”
Mount Vernon’s league action started Monday with a home doubleheader against Centralia at Brennan Klein Field. The summer slate wraps up with the league tournament at the end of the month on Tuesday, June 25 and concluding on Thursday, June 27.
“We’re excited to be getting back to it and get back to work,” Borah said. “Not only do we have games starting next week, but we’ve got workouts starting (Thursday) and really picking up the start of next week and hopefully we can use that time to get stronger and faster and also develop our skills as well both offensively and defensively as well. We’re excited to get back at it. We’re looking forward to playing competitive baseball and getting back to our winning tradition.”
Borah said the league also provides solid competition for his Rams. Effingham St. Anthony advanced to the 2A state finals. Salem won a 3A regional title, and Centralia also advanced to a regional championship this past spring.
One of the areas of focus for Borah’s team this summer will be offensive production, the coach said. The Rams struggled in that area throughout the spring. Mount Vernon hit .244 as a team with a .351 on-base percentage and scored an average of 4.5 runs a game this spring.
“Offensively we have to get better. There’s no secret about it. We have to get better,” Borah said. “We’ve got to do more. We have to score more runs. I think our defense cleaned up as the season went on, which it typically does throughout the high school baseball season. And then our pitching I felt was pretty strong throughout the season. We have to keep developing on the mound as well because that’s ultimately where games are won and lost, especially once you get into the postseason. Everybody is throwing their best arms.”
phines@morningsentinel.com
THROWING STRIKES — Mount Vernon’s Trevor McClure throws a pitch against Centralia in Thursday’s 3A regional semifinal this spring.
