Glen Lake Baseball will be looking to continue its dominant Laker tradition during the 2024 baseball season.
“It’s the chance to play again, the chance to get out and do it. The minute that the previous season ends, you’re already starting to think about next year. We’ve been waiting to get back out here and do this for a year now and that part was really exciting,” Glen Lake coach Kris Herman said ahead of the upcoming season.
The Lakers will be sporting a younger cast this season after graduating several seniors who led the team in production.
Glen Lake captured yet another Northwest Conference Championship last year before losing in the regional final against Beal City 10-0.
The Lakers start the 2024 campaign against St. Mary April 11 before traveling to Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart for a tournament on April 13.
“The guys we have coming up are athletic, they’re enthusiastic. It’s just going to be a matter of how many games it’s going to take us to get used to varsity pitching,” Herman said.“I like where our pitching is. I like where our defense is gonna be and we’ll scrape for runs in the meantime until we get used to the pitching that we’re going to see on a varsity level.”
The Lakers will be going hoping to win its 12th straight district in 2024.
Glen Lake junior Benji Allen was named Dream Team MVP last season along with a secondteam all-state selection thanks to 9-4 pitching record and a 1.44 ERA on the mound. He led the Lakers to the regional final when he struck out 11 batters in a regional semifinal game against Manton.
“We do what we do best, the basics and fundamentals … I’ve been working on a lot more fundamentals and just fixing the small things with pitching, getting a couple of new pitches, and trying to fine-tune things right now,” Allen said.
Allen was a top-hitter for the Lakers with 48 hits in 2023.
The Lakers will have to replace graduates Michael Galla, Sean Galla, Noah Lamb, and James St. Peter from last season.
Glen Lake’s four seniors of Aiden Gokey, Cooper Bufalini, Joey Rioux and Tyler Brown will be returning with plenty of experience for the Lakers to make yet another run.
Gokey will be an anchor at first base for yet another season. He will also be counted on at the plate where he knocked in 32 RBIs last season.
“We are putting in the work, it doesn’t matter your experience or your age doesn’t define your experience. If you put in the work, we can go out and show what we can do,” Gokey said.
Bufalini will be another leader on the mound and at the batter’s- box. Bufalini had an 8-1 record and led the team in steals with 31.
Juniors Peter Gelsinger and Isaac Hlavka will be counted on as well with a vast amount of pitching experience on the mound last year.
Gelsinger was named honorable mention to the Dream Team last year and he cannot wait for the first pitch of the season.
“I’ve played baseball my whole life since I was three. I want to play at the next level … We’re taking every game just one game at a time. Always. We’re just looking at the next game. We’re not looking too far ahead. We’re working, focusing on getting fundamentally sound and building our experience.”
