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PDS Baseball Relying on Big Three To Arm it With Success This Spring
By Bill Alden
Princeton Day School baseball coach Bruce Devlin has a rare luxury – a three-pitcher starting rotation.
While many high school coaches are lucky to have a proven ace and maybe another decent starter, the Panthers' staff returns senior standouts Will King and Alex Sugiura and adds strong-armed junior Dan O'Brien, a transfer from Princeton High.
Devlin's voice rises with anticipation when he contemplates how easy things could be for him with his big three on the mound. "On any given day, I can just give any of them the ball, whoever falls into the rotation," said Devlin, who guided the Panthers to a 9-9 mark last spring. "All of them are throwing well."
The third-year head coach is expecting leadership as well as good pitching from Sugiura and King, who are the team's co-captains along with senior catcher Rajeev Sharma. "Alex brings a spark to the team," said Devlin. "He is in the best condition he's been after playing football and then going through basketball. Will is just a bulldog. We were working on defense at a recent practice and one of the coaches just turned to me and said 'I would love to have three Will Kings.'"
Others who could get some innings for PDS include senior Jim Harding, junior Charlie Bird, sophomore Logan Laughlin, and freshman Bam Miller.
Around the horn, PDS returns several key veteran performers. The cool-headed Sharma will handle most of the catching duties with Laughlin and maybe Sugiura spelling him at times.
The infield will feature junior Colin Johnson and sophomore Andrew Davidson at first base, senior Brian Caulin at second, King and Sharma at shortstop, and Sugiura and senior Sean Massimo at third.
In the outfield, Devlin will be playing seniors Tyler Pakradooni, Lon Johnson, and sophomore Drew Godwin together with O'Brien.
Offensively, PDS will continue to feature a "little ball" approach. "We will play aggressively," asserted Devlin, who is looking at the speedy Lon Johnson to be a key tablesetter at the top of the order. "We have stolen 130 bases in the last two years."
Devlin is looking for O'Brien, Sugiura, and Colin Johnson to provide the punch from the middle of the team's order.
After making progress last year with rare wins over Prep A powers Blair and Peddie, Devlin is optimistic about his team's prospects this spring.
"I'm very pleased," said Devlin, whose club will open its season with home games against Rutgers Prep on April 2 and Point Pleasant Beach High on April 3. "We have nice pitching and we are defensively sound. We have a lot of interchangeable parts."
If those parts mesh together, PDS could be in for a special spring.
