By Kris Venezia ’11
THE ROUNDUP

As students end their day they can hear that familiar “ping” coming from the baseball diamond—it’s baseball season once again.

A year ago Brophy finished the season with 21 wins and 10 losses, and went into the postseason tournament with a fifth seed. The team’s hopes were dashed though with a second round loss against Desert Ridge High School.

After a long off season, Brophy baseball looks to accomplish great things this season with fresh faces. Five sophomores have already been seen on the field, including starting outfielder David Graybill ’12.

“I’m going to be taking big swings at the plate this year to knock guys in,” Graybill said, who often bats third in the lineup.

Experienced leaders Kasey Coffman ’10 and Joe Maggi ’11 said they want to rebound this year after a difficult ending to last season.

Coffman, who plays third base and pitches, has been strong early in the season as he hit four home runs in six games.

Maggi, a starting outfielder,  has large shoes to fill as brothers Beau Maggi ’09 and Drew Maggi ’08 have moved on to playing at ASU.

“I want to bring a kind of hard nose baseball… by showing up everyday and playing hard,” Joe Maggi said.

Offense has proven to not be a problem early in the season with 46 runs scored through the team’s first eight games. Pitching has been solid as well for the Broncos as they only allowed  2.3 runs per game through their first seven games.

Pitcher Evan Quinn ’10 said the team’s early success has a lot to do with their strong bond.

“We have great team chemistry and believe in each other… We definitely have a shot at the state championship,” Quinn said.

Although most baseball teams stick strictly to the weight room and on field exercises, Brophy uses yoga to get players into shape.

Before practice on Mondays and Wednesdays the players grab their mats and make their way into the Great Hall for yoga.

“I think it helps with stamina whereas our weightlifting focuses on explosiveness,” said pitcher Mark Stern ’10.

Stern said the team, comprised of a mixed bag of sophomores, juniors and seniors, has their eyes set on taking an April tournament.

“I would obviously love to win state, (but) it would be big to win the Big League Dugout National Invitational Tournament in April,” he said.