This could be the break-out year.

With a talented and experienced group of returning players, Bloomfield Hills Lahser head coach Scott Long is excited about his baseball team. He's followed this particular group of seniors for four years now and believes this is the spring their potential reaches full bloom.

“Out of all our teams, this is the best Lahser team I've seen in the four years I've been around,” said Long, in his second year as head coach after having spent the previous two seasons as the junior varsity coach. “The guys who are seniors now were with me in my first year when they were freshmen.

“When I first saw this team as freshmen, I thought ‘Oh, brother.' We had some long practices. I remember parents waiting in the bleachers for us and we just kept going and going. The biggest thing I tried to preach to them is doing things the right way.

“It was a rough year, but by the end of the year they started to come around. And every year after that we just spent more time together — more time in the weight room, more time in the gym, more time in the cage,” he said. “And now, four years later, we're like family. It's nice to see how they've grown.”

DAUCH LEADS ROSTER

The list of seniors begins with standout Luke Dauch, a center fielder who already has signed on to play at Northwestern next fall. Dauch led the Knights last season with a .458 batting average and a .930 slugging percentage.

Dauch will bat third in the lineup and figures to drive in a lot of runs. Defensively, he's as good as they come.

“Luke is phenomenal. He has all the tools and he'll get drafted after this year,” said Long. “He has great hands, and hits the ball extremely well for power and for average. He has great speed in the outfield with a good arm, and on the base paths he's a terror.”

Along with Dauch, Lahser's other three captains include seniors Evan Wahl (shortstop), Nick Emery (left field) and Glen Gruber (right field, pitcher). Lee Padilla, a second-year infielder, and relief pitcher Alex Nault, are the team's other seniors. Gruber is the number two hitter who batted .325 last season. Dauch, Gruber and Emery are a fast trio and cover a lot of ground in the outfield.

The top juniors are Neal Krentz (infield/pitcher) and Patrick Monahan (fist base/pitcher), while freshman Charlie Dauch figures to see a lot of time as a middle infielder.

Monahan and Krentz will be the staff workhorses on the mound, while sophomore newcomer Kyle Riley, Wahl and Emery will also chip in as pitchers. Monahan and Krentz gained some valuable mound experience last season.

ATTITUDE IS STRENGTH

“Strength-wise, this team has a great attitude. Our lineup from top to bottom is solid in terms of hitting and, infield and outfield, we do a great a job defensively,” said Long. “I think this team is very persistent and hard working. The concern is just how deep we are on the mound. Are we going to be able to consistently get ahead of the hitters and stay ahead of the hitters. It's not a weakness, just something that hasn't been proven yet.

“Two-strike hitting is something we have to improve on. We struck out a little bit too much last year. So, I've really challenged the guys to do a better job having a team swing with two strikes and working the middle-away approach.

“So far, with the limited amount of games we've had, we've done a pretty good job of putting the ball in play and make the infielder's make plays,” he said. “If we can do that, and we can get ahead of the hitters, we can be real solid this year.”

Lahser finished with a 15-15 overall record, but was near the bottom of the OAA Central Division with a 4-11 record. Farmington is the defending division champion, but the Knights hope to be a title contender this season.

Although they are 4-5 after their first nine games, Lahser opened the division season recently with a big 13-1 victory over Royal Oak and an impressive 13-4 blitzing of Farmington Wednesday.

“We've been looking forward to this season and this team is capable of winning the division,” said Long. “I'll be bummed if we don't win because these guys have really worked hard. There's a good feeling about this team.”