Jason?s Bearcats take first game against Pat?s Vikings

It was an interesting start to the baseball season for the Posen Vikings. With limited practice time, due to an extended trip into the basketball playoffs and spring break, the Vikes opened the season in mid-Michigan with only a week of practice.

For coach Pat Kowalski, entering his 15th year in Posen, it was a chance to give everyone a chance to play in what he calls ?the pre-season.? Kowalski made 30 changes and used an average of three pitchers in each of the three games last weekend.

THE MOST intriguing part of the weekend was the matchup between Pat and his son Jason Kowalski, the coach of the Bridgeport Bearcats. The first game between the two high school coaches went to Jason, who watched as his team took control in the later innings. ?It was going great for three innings,? said Pat Kowalski, with the Vikings clinging to a one-run lead. Bridgeport went on to win 15-5, with Jason buying dinner for his dad that night. It wasn?t a case of the winner buys; Jason was treating his dad regardless of the outcome.

Junior Nick Goupell stung the ball well for his first time out this spring against opposing arms, going two-for-three.

THE NEXT DAY, Kowalski took his charges to the BC All Saints tournament and played in 50-degree weather. It?s safe to say that if the mercury didn?t inch much above 50 degrees the rest of the season, nobody would complain. Kowalski used five different pitchers in a 12-11 loss to Kingston, but he could see the confidence of his younger players grow. The coach had 14-year-old players facing 18-year-old pitchers. With each pitch, the coach believes they were getting more comfortable at the plate, and in turn, starting to ?put the ball in play.?

Sophomore Matt Szc

zerowski and senior Luke Hentkowski both were two-for-three. In the final contest of the tournament, the Vikings faced the host school All Saints, who defeated Posen in the state championship game five seasons ago. All Saints has a quality team year in and year out and went on to defeat the Vikings, 13-3. ?We had very little practice time,? said Kowalski. ?None of our pitchers were ready and we allowed a lot of walks.?

Kowalski used the weekend to identify some weak areas and will look for improvement in the coming weeks. The next game is the home opener next Thursday (April 15) against Johannesburg-Lewiston.

That will be the last pre-season warmup before Posen takes on arch-baseball rival Hillman April 19. The schedule underwent some changes as the traditional matchup had been the first week of May for many years.