Courtesy Photo The 2022 Alpena High baseball team includes: front: Brady Pagels, Alex Cadarette, Matt Thompson, Brady Niedzwicki and Landen Spomer; back: Ev Zann, Jake Zann, Noah Marquardt, Travis Weide, Marc Kirchner, Brady Kollen, Kadyn Budnik and Logan Momrik.

ALPENA — The Alpena High baseball team has all the ingredients it needs for success this season: talent, solid pitching, and a good hitting lineup.

Alpena is 2-9 in the early part of the season, but Alpena coach Phil Schultz hopes the Wildcats are ready to turn the corner now the calendar has turned to May.

“We’ve got a pretty good team. I’ve got seven seniors, four juniors, and a sophomore,” Schultz said. “We’ve got a good hitting lineup, we need to work on our defense and our pitching, but, overall I’m hoping our hitting can carry us.”

With a roster of just 12 players this season, several Alpena players will see time at multiple positions, a challenge Schultz said his team is ready for.

“I told them when we sat down and picked the team to be open-minded and playing some roles to help the team,” Schultz said. “That’s huge and there’s some pretty good athletes there that can fill multiple positions.”

On the mound, Alpena is anchored by seniors Travis Weide and Matt Thompson, both of whom will play college baseball for Albion College and Northwood University respectively. Jake Zann, Logan Momrik, Brady Kollen and Noah Marquardt are also among those players in the mix to see some time on the mound.

On defense, Weide has split time between first and third base, Zann has played second base and Thompson has played shortstop. Schultz hopes Brady Pagels will be added to Alpena’s infield mix at some point during the season as well.

In the outfield, Marc Kirchner, Kadyn Budnick, Brady Niedzwiecki, Landen Spomer and Everett Zann are all in the mix for playing time.

After battling the elements for the first several weeks of the season, Schultz hopes that as the weather improves, his team heats things up at the plate, on the mound, and on defense. The Wildcats will have plenty of chances to play with a schedule that includes their annual MacKenzie Invitational and all of their Big North opponents over the next 20 days.

“When we can get some consistent games and play, these guys can get working,” Schultz said. “The more they can work and get out there, the better it is for them.”