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IAC BASEBALL: S-VE PREPARES TO FACE TOUGH LEAGUE REALIGNMENT (13 PHOTOS) (2019-03-19)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
SPENCER - Realignment didn't make life any easier for the S-VE baseball team. The Panthers are now in a division that boasts the majority of the IAC's best teams.

League officials trimmed baseball and softball from four divisions to three during the off-season, and the Panthers wound up in the mix with Edison, Lansing and Tioga, which have represented Section IV in eight of the 11 Class C state tournaments and have won the last four sectional titles. Those four teams, plus Trumansburg, which has been competitive in recent years, and Moravia will make up Division 2.

"For us it's going to be a challenging division," said S-VE head coach Jeremy Kastenhuber. "What happened was you put the last four or five league and sectional champs all in the same boat, and so I think our division is going to kind of devour itself a little bit, and I think it's going to hurt our division, especially the Tiogas, T-Burgs and Lansings come sectional time, and Heights too, because they're going to be beating each other up a little bit. It's kind of like the old SEC adage with football. They kind of beat each other up and kind of hurt themselves.

"I worry about that for our division. It's a tough division to play in, but at the same time, if you want to be the best, I guess you have to play against the best and that's what we have in Division 2."

All that aside, the coach like his team's attitude and work ethic.

"They're working really hard, a nice group of young men," Kastenhuber said. "They're just really inexperienced when it come to the the pitching and catching positions. That's going to be our biggest challenge ... on the mound, trying to throw strikes.

"Billy Baker is coming back. He had a really good year last year for me. Unfortunately, he can't play both positions at the same time. Billy Hall is going to catch a little bit this year and I've got some guys who threw a little bit, like Mandell Davis. He threw some innings for me last year. Nick Yartym is another lefty who is going to have to throw.

"Hunter Savon is coming back out after a year off and he's got a great glove and he's got a good arm, and I'm hoping he can keep things together and kind of do some good things for us. Owen Morris has been working hard in the weight room and he's been working hard in the off-season and I think he's going to be much improved for us this year as well."

Unfortunately, the Panthers lost one player for the season to a dirt bike riding injury, leaving Kastenhuber with a 12-man roster.

"Twelve I'll take," he said. "It's not a horrible number for baseball. As long as we stay healthy we should be OK as far as the numbers."

S-VE opens the season March 29 at Edison at 4:30 p.m.

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IN PHOTO 1: S-VE has been splitting its practice time between the school parking lot and the gym as it waits for the field to dry up enough to play on. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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