Greyhounds will have a familiar look this season
Published 7:30 pm Friday, May 21, 2010
The Austin Greyhounds aren’t making any drastic changes, but they may play some of their younger players, at least during the regular season.
While ace pitcher Dave Meyer and center fielder Nick Rohne may be limited in their availability early in the year, the Hounds will look for some younger players to step up.
Some of that help could come from pitchers John Kirby, Robert Wahlert, Adam Hemann and shortstop Joey Swatfager.
“The younger guys could see a bit more time this summer,” Hounds manager John Frein said. “But for the most part it’s the same core and we’ll look to get better every day. July is when we’ll really look to take off.”
The Hounds lineup will still feature the bats of Matt Cano, Craig Braaten, Tyler Leopold, Dan Zielke and Matt Raso.
The pitching staff will look to veterans Peter Korfage and John Halverson to chip in.
“Craig Braaten’s put in a lot of work to get ready for the season and we have some a lot of dedicated guys,” Frein said. “Everyone’s getting prepared.”
The Hounds are looking forward to hosting the Spamtown Invite, which takes place Thursday, June 24 through Saturday, June 26. The tournament features all three Minnesota state champs, Class ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’, from last season and four quality teams from Illinois.
“It’s our best tournament yet as far as competition goes and it’ll be cool to see how the best teams from Minnesota match up with the out-of-state teams,” Frein said.