7A crown within reach for Tigers

CHERRY—If success breeds success, then the Cherry High School baseball team should be in good hands.

A good number of Tiger basketball players, who won the State Class A basketball title this season, are members of the baseball team, which should set up Cherry for a run at the Section 7A.

It also helps that the Tigers did finish second last season to South Ridge, so a return to the finals isn’t out of the question.

“It was disheartening last year, but it’s a motivating factor to knock out South Ridge,” Cherry coach Brian Kemp said. “They’ve won the section the last five years. Our basketball team played with a target on their back, so it’s nice to not have that target.

“We focused on winning the section.”

Kemp might have the team do that.

“This should be the best we’ve had in my 10 years of doing this,” Kemp said. “These kids have learned how to compete in every sport they’ve played. We have a bunch of athletes, kids that hit the weight room and put in the extra work.

“This is a group that likes to win.”

Kemp only has two seniors, Isaac Asuma and Andrew Staples.

“I need them to be leaders,” Kemp said. “That’s what we’re looking for out of them. Isaac has led in everything he’s done. Isaac is one of our top four pitchers in our rotation.

“Andrew hit his first home run of the year, so we’re looking for some pop from him in the middle of our order.”

The junior class consists of Mason Heitzman, Noah Sundquist, Carson Brown and Carl Senarighi.

The sophomore class has Noah Asuma, Kalub Brown, Josh Carpenter, Wyat Kane, Ian Kimmes, Jack Michaels, Jackson Nagel, Mason Elsner, Gunnar Galaski and Gus Anderson.

“We’ve had so many younger guys playing for a few years now,” Kemp said. “Our juniors and sophomores have been playing long enough, so I think they’re prepared.”

Ninth-graders Isaiah Asuma, Sam Nagel and Logan Peterson will round out the team.

The Tigers’ pitching staff includes Isaac Asuma, Sundquist, Noah Asuma, Isaiah Asuma and Heitzman.

“We’re five or six deep with pitching,” Kemp said. “We haven’t had that very often. We could always say we had five or six pitchers on the roster, but not five or six pitchers that we could trust.

“We know what Sunny is capable of when he is dialed in.”

Defensively, Cherry should be solid up the middle.

“It’ll be like a carousel,” Kemp said. “We can’t tell from day-to-day as to who will be on the left side of the infield. We have a well-rounded group that can play multiple positions.

“We should be better as the season progresses. We have a bunch of utility guys that we’re going to shuffle around.”

Offensively, the Tigers could be capable of scoring a lot of runs.

“On paper, this should be the best offensive team we’ve had,” Kemp said. “We have big, strong kids. By the end of April and the first part of May, we should be in good shape. We have quite a few kids that should hit for power.”

With all of that experience, Cherry has a legitimate chance to win the Section 7A title.

“They’ve learned how to compete at a high level,” Kemp said. “We’re excited about that. These baseball kids know what to expect. They know how to win. That should transform into a good season for us.”