‘Hungry’ Hawks young but experienced

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Woodland seniors, from left, Matt Szturma, Zak Graveline and Zach Bennard will lead the Hawks on the baseball field this season. –KYLE BRENNAN

BEACON FALLS — Mike Kingsley has been on the Woodland baseball coaching staff almost every year since the program began in 2002. He’s never seen anything like the team he’s got this spring.

The Hawks boast a pitching staff that’s nine deep, including five left-handers, and the majority of those pitchers figure to start a varsity game this season.

“I’ve never seen anything like this, even in my years with Joe (Steele, Woodland’s former coach),” Kingsley said, “other than (Ken) Graveline, (Steve) Corbett, and (Macky) Cianciolo (in 2007). That was a heck of a staff.”

This year’s Hawks will try to match what that pitching staff from 11 seasons ago accomplished — a Naugatuck Valley League championship and a trip to the Class M state semifinals.

Woodland took a step in the right direction last spring with a 14-8 record, including the NVL Iron Division championship. The Hawks accomplished that with just three seniors and a lineup dominated by underclassmen.

“We’re still a relatively young team, but all the experience we gained last year is really paying off now,” Kingsley said. “We only have three seniors, but we have an entire junior class that all played varsity baseball as sophomores. They’re becoming confident. They’re still young, but they’re coming. It’s paying off that we played them as freshmen and sophomores.”

The young Hawks enjoyed success for most of last season, but they faltered in the postseason. Woodland went one-and-done in both the NVL and Class M state tournaments.

“They’re pretty hungry,” Kingsley said. “They were knocking on the door last year. They’re not happy with the way it ended. They got 14 wins, didn’t play well in the (NVL) quarterfinals against St. Paul and didn’t play well in the first round of states (against Wolcott). We haven’t had to address it. They’re addressing it among themselves — I can hear them talking about it.”

The pitching staff will be led by seniors Zak Graveline and Matt Szturma. They’ll be joined in the rotation by juniors Zach Bedryczuk and Justin Butterworth.

“Those four guys are as good as anybody in the league, I think,” Kingsley said.

Mike Szturma, Jason Claiborn, Dave Michaud, Nick DeLucia, and Dante DiRubba will also see time on the mound. All the pitchers are also position players. The depth excites Kingsley for plenty of reasons — especially the advantage it could give the Hawks over other teams who will be trying to manage the CIAC pitch-count rule.

“We can extend a guy and not worry about having a guy two days later,” Kingsley said. “We don’t need to worry about the pitch count because we feel like any day we can throw a lot of guys capable of winning.”

Other key pieces will be junior catcher Colby Linnell and senior designated hitter Zach Bennard.

Woodland will be tested right off the bat Saturday when it opens at home against Wolcott. The Hawks will visit Goodwin Tech on Monday and will host Ansonia on Tuesday.