Firebird JV's Achieve Uncommon Level of Excellence

Ted Anderson has developed into a respected and savvy coach over the past six years coaching Chaparral's Junior Varsity baseball team. He has achieved enviable success, but he has never had a team go through the season undefeated. This year, that might change because of a group of players as talented and tight-knit as any as he has ever directed. The young Firebirds enter today's challenging game at Liberty with a 14-0 record that includes victories over high profile programs like Cactus, Catalina Foothills, Sandra Day O'Connor, Notre Dame and Cactus Shadows. It's a group that Anderson will tell you plays for a pure love of the game with skill and chemistry that emanates from a deep appreciation for one another. These players - teammates and frequent opponents for years before entering Chaparral - have jelled into a unit so effective unit that they probably could win against most varsity squads.

"It would be great to go undefeated, and we have a chance, but either way," says Anderson, "it has been a pleasure to coach these kids. They respect the game and they respect each other. They play with skill and focus that results in a team approach that makes them very good nearly every time we take the field. And, it does not hurt that there is a lot of talent there." Anderson says of his primary pitchers (Konner Wade, Aaron Levy, Will Abram and Paul Stockfish) that they all would be the No. 2 or even No. 1 varsity starters at most schools. "I have never had this kind of pitching depth," says Anderson. It's even more impressive when you consider that Chris Pleiter and Logan Davis also have pitched impressively and will have great opportunities to make their mark at the varsity level. Preston Hill, another very talented pitcher, has been injured all season and will be back for summer ball.

Those pitchers are helped with a defense that lives up to the Chaparral tradition of consistency on the routine plays with the spectacular taking center stage more often than should be expected. Nate Sherman is at catcher, Scott Townsend, John Honea, Pleiter and Davis at first, Will Dyer at second, James McDonald at shortstop, Wade, Ben Shcolnik, and Sean Koster at third and Blake Spiekerman, Joel Hayden, Nick Jarvis, and Levy in the outfield. On a par with the defense is the hitting. The Firebirds have firepower throughout the lineup and have scored runs in bunches. With Levy on the mound today, look for the Firebirds to keep it going in a tough test of talent and will. But it won't be easy. Liberty is a new school with no seniors; this JV team is in essence their varsity both this year and next.