PREP BASEBALL: Alton takes aim at “bigger picture”
Redbirds’ focus goes beyond wins
Louie Korac For The Telegraph Published 10:01 pm, Thursday, March 15, 2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
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GODFREY — Todd Haug isn’t about placing certain specifications on the Alton Redbirds baseball team. The Redbirds coach feels no matter who is or isn’t on any particular roster, expectations don’t change.

The Redbirds earned their first win Thursday night by beating the Carbondale Terriers 6-1 in the Prep Baseball Report Kickoff Classic at GCS Ballpark in Sauget.

“The expectations are year in, year out regardless of the talent,” said Haug, who began his 10th season as Redbirds coach with a record of 197-116 before falling 2-1 in the season-opener to Freeburg on Wednesday. “First of all, play the game with respect. Respect the game, respect all those that have played before us. Play the game with a certain amount of respect that allows us to represent our community well. These are the bigger picture things that we’re constantly talking about to these guys, the bigger message. That’s the expectation.

”Have I had more talented ballclubs? Well, we’ve played one game, I don’t know. But we’re a pretty young ballclub in general. We started four sophomores (in the season opener). If we can figure out how to swing, put a little solid contact on the ball, we’ll be in most games because our pitching and defense is going to be just fine.”

The Redbirds, 17-16 last season and falling short of 20 wins for the first time since 2010, do boast seven seniors (pitcher Cole Akal, infielder Brandon Droste, pitcher Charlie Erler, center fielder Mikey Hampton, outfielder Ben Mossman, outfielder Simon Nguyen and catcher Shane Turner) but will be testing several underclassmen, which makes this a big learning curve for Haug and coaches Dennis Sharp, Pete Kleeman, Steve Haug and Jason Roberts.

“We’re staying very positive,” Todd Haug said. “They’re a young group and we will continue to work with them. Kind of the old Tony La Russa approach: push them and you pat them. You have to push them and allow them to make them know that there is an expectation but pat them to let them know that they’re here for a reason and they can do the job.”

Junior shortstop/pitcher Robby Taul, junior third baseman/pitcher Adam Stilts, sophomore outfielder/pitcher Riley Phillips, first baseman/pitcher Wesley Laaker and sophomore catcher Owen Stendeback were all in the starting lineup against the Midgets.

Nguyen (.366), Stilts (.354), Hampton (.311) and Droste (.309) were among the leading hitters last season that will be returning. Hampton, who is currently sidelined with a broken wrist, is the leader among returnees in doubles (six) and triples (five), while Droste (27) and Nguyen (24) return as the leading RBI batters.

“Overall to tell you something that we can improve on, if the season was one game, I would say offense, but I have no idea what we’re going to be 10 games down the line,” Haug said. “I just know it was a cold day in March and we scratched and clawed and got one run (in the season opener).

“I think in general, we’re a very fundamentally sound team. That’s what we spend the majority of our practices doing. Doing fundamentals, executing the things that routinely win you or lose you ballgames, getting a bunt down, getting the key outs, turning the double play, rundowns, bunt coverages, things like that. We try to be very fundamentally sound and control the things that we can control. You can’t control whether or not you’re going to get on first base. And so with that being said, strengths-wise, pitching and fundamental defense. Once we get Hampton back, we’ll have a little bit more speed at the top of the lineup.”

Erler (3-5, 3.48 ERA, 35 walks, 57 strikeouts in 52 2/3 innings last season), returns as the ace of the staff. But Haug feels his pitching staff will be deep and plenty.

Stilts (2-5, 4.53 ERA, 12 BB, 27 K’s in 46 1/3 innings), Taul (4-1, 2.63 ERA, six BB’s, 12 K’ in 26 2/3 innings), Phillips (1-1, 2.23 ERA) and Laaker all will be relied upon.

“Charlie’s obviously a Division I arm, but Adam Stilts is very solid right there,” Haug said. “Robby Taul’s very, very solid. The darkhorse was the kid we had in left field (in the opener) who I think he’s really going to turn some heads this year is Riley Phillips, a lanky sophomore that throws well from the left side and then Wesley Laaker who played first base for us (in the opener) is a sophomore.

“We’ve got plenty of arms and we’ve got good defense. We play very fundamentally sound, so we’ll just see. If we can scratch and claw some runs, we’ll be OK.”

Edwardsville, last season’s runner-up in Class 4A, and O’Fallon normally headline the Southwestern Conference slate as favorites, but Alton would like to classify itself as a team capable of doing damage with Belleville West, Belleville East and Collinsville.

“I always equate Southwestern Conference baseball to like SEC football,” Haug said. “Yeah, there’s a few teams that consistently are near the top, but in general, anybody can beat anybody on any given night. You always have to put your best foot forward but play 21 hard outs.”

The Redbirds would like to get back to 20 or more wins, but won’t deem it as a necessary target to reaching successful goals.

“We had 20 wins or more six or seven years in a row,” Haug said. “We failed to get it last year. Things like placing 20 win seasons as a priority or beating an O’Fallon or an Edwardsville, yes, those are good accolades for a season, but if you’re really trying to be the best program you can be, you need to think well beyond that. And that’s nothing against those programs or a 20-win plateau. It’s just that you’re going to need to win more than 20 games to get where you want to go ultimately, and you’re going to need to beat more than conference teams to get where you want to go ultimately. One game at a time.”