Five seniors set to lead Rangers

MOUNTAIN IRON—The Mountain Iron-Buhl baseball team has made good use of the limited time they’ve had outside this year.

Postings wins over Chisholm and Cook County, this year’s Ranger squad is starting on the right foot and head coach Ron Marinaro is excited to see what his team can do once they’re able to fully work outside.

“We haven’t had a lot of time on our own field but the guys have worked through it,” Marinaro said. “They’re ready to be outside. You could see it this week but I can tell that they’re ready to really show what they can do because it’s a group of veteran players. The majority of the seniors have been with me since they were freshmen. They’re well seasoned. We have to work the rust off but we know that we have some pretty solid ball players this year.”

Seniors on this year’s squad are Jackson Dunn, Colton Gallus, Rylen Niska, Damian Tapio and Brant Tiedeman. That core of five have plenty of big game experience and are no stranger to making deep runs in the postseason. With everything they’ve done in their playing careers, Marinaro hopes they continue the season with confidence.

“Those runs give us experience that we needed and it kind of helps us with our confidence. You gotta be sharp by the end of the year and I think our guys were. It’s a stressful time but I saw our guys have fun with it and play solid baseball. They were up for any challenge you put in front of them.”

Another positive for Marinaro is that his seniors aren’t afraid to give their thoughts on what the team should do against any given opponent.

“They want to give their input on how we should attack things. It’s tough to find enough arms to pitch by the end of the tournament but the kids wanted to be a part of the planning and how we attacked it. Then they were able to execute it. They threw strikes, hit the ball, got us on base. I think the whole experience built some confidence for us and these kids know what to do in order to be successful.”

While Marinaro says his team is pretty well built in all facets of the game, it’s their defense that the Rangers hope to lean on throughout the year.

“So far our defense is tight. It’s early but defense has always been good for us and that’s something these guys take seriously. I think we’re a very well balanced team, the batting is solid, we have good baserunners. We can go down two or three runs and I’m the one getting nervous because the kids know that we’re good and we have a chance to fight back and get in the game. It’s a fun bunch of kids to watch because they take it by the horns themselves.”

While limited time outdoors has affected what the team has worked on so far, Marinaro says they’ll take things day by day once their home field dries out.

“We have to work on just a little bit of everything after being stuck inside for so long. A lot of it kind of depends on what we did in the last game. If we’re not hitting well, we’ll go in the cage for a day or two. If it’s defense, we’ll work on some drills and talk adjustments. We work on things as they come up and I think the guys stay sharp because of it.”

Looking at the rest of the section, Marinaro expects defending champions South Ridge as well as Cherry to be the teams to beat. The Rangers will get a look at Cherry on Monday.

“That’s going to be a tough game knowing how much they bring back. We’ll be competitive though. We can win a game like that. Last year we gave them a battle. It’s hard not to be optimistic with the group of guys that we have.”