Warriors to put talented team on baseball field

Ozaukee High School baseball coach Steve Kowalkowski said he feels pretty good about what his 19-member baseball team brings to the field this season.

“We have a lot of talent,” he said, adding it’s a matter of placing players where they will excel the most.

The Warriors are coming off a 16-1 season. Their only loss was in the sectional final to Kenosha St. Joseph, 6-4.

There is no replacing Ozaukee’s top player last season, shortstop/pitcher Noah Miller, who was chosen as the Big East Player of the Year and months later was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the first round. He hit .667 with five homers and 20 RBI last season, and never whiffed.

But Noah and his brother Owen, who plays for the Cleveland Guardians, have boosted interest in the program. Three sophomores who haven’t played baseball before joined the team, as well as senior Jonny Melendez, a fast wide receiver in football, who told Kowalkowski he wished he had played baseball all four years of high school.

The Warriors also lost Simon Bares to graduation. He was named to the Big East first team as a pitcher and second team as a utility player.

Senior Matt Miller, Noah and Owen’s cousin, is one of five starters returning. He was chosen to the Big East first team as a third baseman and pitcher last season.

Miller hit .568, going 21-for-37 with one triple, 11 doubles and a team-high 33 RBI batting cleanup. He had an on-base percentage of .653, a slugging percentage of .919 and an on-base percentage plus slugging of 1.572. He scored 12 runs and walked seven times. Like his cousin, he never struck out.

On the mound, he was 7-0 with an earned-run average of 1.029. He whiffed 33 batters and allowed six runs (five earned), 27 hits and eight walks in 34 innings.

At third base, Miller had 27 putouts and four assists in 32 chances. He made one error, was part of one double play and had a fielding percentage of .969.

Miller will pitch and play shortstop this season.

Tyler D’Angelo and Sawyer Kowalkowski will also pitch. Sophomore Talan Dybul returns as the team’s top catcher and could see time on the mound as well.

Third base will see a rotation. Natalie Miller, Matt’s sister, returns to start at second base and Blake Cocanower is back at first base.

Kowalkowski will play center field, and Evan Alexander and Melendez will see time in the outfield.

“It’s interesting to see what he ends up bringing to the team,” coach Kowalkowski said of Melendez.

The batting order is yet to be determined, he said.

Kowalkowski said he expects the Big East to be more level this season. Ozaukee won the conference with a 12-0 record last year. Random Lake was 9-3, Howards Grove was 9-4 and St. Mary Catholic, Reedsville and Manitowoc Lutheran were all 8-4.

“I think it’s going to be a good, challenging conference this year across the board,” Kowalkowski said.

“I told the guys it’s up to us how we want to finish.”

Kowalkowski said he is taking the same approach as last season — one game at a time. He knows his team won’t be sneaking up on anyone anymore after beating all the Big East teams.

“It’s going to be more of a vendetta thing against us,” he said.

Ozaukee is scheduled to play at Kewaskum on Saturday and host Howards Grove at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Last Saturday’s game against Roncalli was postponed due to snow. A makeup date hasn’t been determined.