ESG - Baseball
Former champion eyes medal stand
by MATT KRUEGER Reporter

Though not exactly in a drought, the Western Region has gone two years without winning a medal at the Empire State Games. And that has head coach Bob Kowal hoping to get back onto the medal podium this year.

"Last year was weird," Kowal said of his team's 2-3 performance and subsequent loss in the bronze medal game at the 2006 Games in Rochester. "We learned a lesson that it's nice to clear the bench and play everybody, but sometimes you can't do that. We were one run away from being in the gold medal game and one run away from being out of it."

Western won the gold medal from 2002 to 2004, but finished fourth last year and placed last in 2005.

With a strong pitching staff and four returning players, Kowal thinks he has a team that can compete better this year.

"I like our pitching," he said. "I've said that this is the best pitching staff I've had since we won a couple gold medals. We have a lot of depth and we have a lot of lefties. I think that is our strength.

Leading the pitching staff are starters Sebastian Bellitto, who will start in Game One against Adirondack, Andrew Tobias, a lefty who will start Game Two against Central, Matt Jimenez, who will start Game Three against New York City, and Eric Povero, who will start Game Four against Hudson Valley. Bellitto and Tobias, both from Jamestown, provide a solid one-two punch. Jimenez (6-foot-6) was the ace for Iroquois this past spring and Povero (6-foot-5) powered Canandaigua Academy.

The staff also features strong relievers Blake McLimans (6-foot-9) of Hamburg, Michael Bright of Niagara Falls and Tim Szalkowski of Lake Shore.

"Our pitching staff would make a great basketball team," Kowal joked. "We have a lot of height and that's what you want in a pitcher. These guys are all getting looked at by Division I colleges."

The four returning players, Jonathan Schwind of Hilton, Chase Grissom of Rochester, Marcus Way of Naples and Jeffrey Allen of Hilton will play big roles this year. Schwind will leadoff and play second base. Grissom will bat third and play center field. Way (6-foot-5) will bat fifth and Allen will bat seventh and catch.

Local players Jason Radwan (Lake Shore), Joseph Polichetti (Dunkirk), Jesse Kelso (St. Mary's of Lancaster) and Jonathan Vanremmen (St. Francis) will also bolster the lineup. Radwan will hit second and Polichetti will play designated hitter and bat cleanup. Kelso, an Elma resident, has a strong lefty bat and will play left field. Vanremmen, and East Aurora resident, led St. Francis to the Georgetown Cup this past spring, but will move from second base to right field.

Rounding out the roster are Michael Kazley (Rochester) and Kane Share (Brockport).

Kowal, the varsity coach at Lake Shore and former coach of Maryvale, is joined for the seventh year in a row by assistant coach Jerry Slawek of Cheektowaga.

Kowal said he expects defending champion Long Island and local favorite New York City to be the toughest competition this year.

"Long Island is supposed to be outstanding," he said. "I hope if the Long Island game means something to us, it won't mean anything to them. Then we'll have a chance. New York City is always tougher when the games are close to the city. If we go 2-0 the first day, we'll be in good shape."

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com