Lexington baseball wants to embrace adversity and learn from it in 2023

LEXINGTON — The Lexington Minutemen were loaded with young talent in 2022, it just needed a bit of grooming.

So, after a year, the Minutemen should be just about ready to get back to championship-caliber baseball. But it will all depend on one thing according to new coach Jeff Stricker, who was the head coach at Lexington from 2002-2013 and posted a 177-127 record in those 12 seasons.

"Our biggest “X-factor” this season will be how well we face adversity early on," Strickler said. "Being a young team playing in the OCC along with a tough non-conference schedule, we will face adversity often. Our team’s collective mindset and how our players respond to adversity and continue striving to mature as varsity baseball players will determine how the season goes."

The Minutemen return nine lettermen and six starters from last year's 9-14 team. Junior Jaxon Brown returns behind the plate after hitting .156 with seven RBIs and six runs scored. Junior Aiden Nicol will start at first base after hitting .308 with four RBIs in limited action while junior Zian Rhodes starts at second after hitting .367 with 11 RBIs and nine runs scored as a sophomore. He earned second team All-Ohio Cardinal Conference and honorable mention All-District 9 last season.

Junior Braden Mumaw is also back after hitting .339 with 17 RBIs and 12 runs scores which earned him first team All-OCC and honorable mention All-District 9 a year ago. Sophomore Chance Basilone will start at shortstop this season. He hit .232 with nine RBIs and eight runs scored with seven steals as a freshman.

Junior Michael Togliatti is slated to start in left field. He hit .077 with an RBI and three runs scored in limited at-bats last year. Junior Landon Hamilton takes over in center field after hitting .200 with three RBIs and four runs scored while junior Donogab Legron will see his first varsity action in right field. HE hit .326 with 11 RBIs, 21 runs scored and a home run on JV last season so his potential is sky high.

Junior Colton Mirfield is slated as the Day 1 starter on the mound. He went 2-5 last year with a 5.03 earned run average with 35 strikeouts in 39 innings. Junior Cooper Freibelbis is the No. 2. He had one varsity inning last year and ended up with a strikeout. He was the ace of the JV staff going 2-0 with a 2.40 ERA.

Rhodes, Hamilton, junior Carter Wilson and junior Levi Davis will also see time on the mound for the Minutemen.

Junior Mitch Riegel and junior Jack Wyant will bring depth to the lineup.

"We have two returning All-OCC and district players in junior Braden Mumaw and junior Zian Rhodes," Strickler said. "Mumaw has a great eye at the plate and is able to hit with power to all fields as he batted .339 last year with 17 RBI, along with a 0.440 on-base percentage and 0.468 slugging average.

"Rhodes is a speedster who also has power to all fields, as he batted .367 with 11 RBI, along with a 0.508 on-base percentage and 0.490 slugging average. The top defensive players on last year’s team were Jaxon Brown, Chance Basilone, and Landon Hamilton with fielding percentages of .985, .938, and 1.000 respectively. Brown, a catcher, has developed into a really good receiver possessing a strong arm and has a great understanding of the game as the “field general”.

"Basilone, a shortstop, is very athletic with great range, really good hands, and quick release. Hamilton, a centerfielder, has great speed and covers a lot of ground in the outfield and has a very strong arm enabling him to make all the throws necessary to the infield.  Though none of these three players had a high batting average last year, based on what I have seen thus far this preseason, I expect all three of them to have break-out seasons at the plate.

"Junior pitcher Colton Murfield started seven varsity games last year with a 5.026 ERA with 35 K’s in 39 IP. Over the past year, he has increased his velocity and accuracy and looks to be a very solid pitcher in the upcoming season."

With all of that potential all over the field, Strickler has set some very nice goals for the team.

"With a team consisting of 13 juniors and one sophomore, though nine of them got some varsity experience last season, we are young for a varsity team," Strickler said. "I expect this team to be competitive out of the gate and steadily improve as the season goes on. I believe we have the talent to potentially make an impact on the conference race and have a good run in the post-season tournament.

"At this point, we only have one pitcher (Colton Murfield) with much varsity experience and a few others (Zian Rhodes, Landon Hamilton, and Cooper Dreibelbis) who pitched in any varsity games last year. Consequently, our success this season could very much depend on how quickly our entire pitching staff matures as varsity pitchers and the improvement they make in performing as the season goes on.  In the meantime, our returning position players will need to step up and carry the team—and I believe they will."

If the pitching staff does mature quickly, watch out OCC.

"The OCC is a very good baseball conference," Strickler said. "Ashland, Mt. Vernon and Wooster have many returning good players and will most likely be the leaders. I don’t know anything about New Philadelphia, but I expect them to be pretty good as well knowing the athletes they have in other sports. West Holmes and Madison have strong baseball traditions and always play hard. Mansfield Senior has athletes who can put together strong showings from time to time. As for us, I believe we can be among the leaders. We will compete and, I believe, have an impact on the conference race. Regardless of who we play, we better bring our “A” game every time we take the field against any of our conference opponents."

The Minutemen open the season on March 25 at Galion.

jfurr@gannett.com

740-244-9934

Twitter: @JakeFurr11

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Lexington Minutemen hope to compete for Ohio Cardinal Conference title