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2023 Spring Team Preview: Cardinal Mooney

MARINE CITY - The last three seasons played on the ball diamond, Cardinal Mooney has been eliminated from the Division 4 tournament by the eventual state champion.

“Something has to give,” said Mooney head coach Mike Rice, whose Cardinals lost in the quarterfinals a year ago to Riverview Gabriel Richard, in the state championship game to Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic in 2021 and to Petersburg Summerfield in the 2019 quarterfinals.

“We need to play defense the right way,” Rice said of what it will take to get over the hump. “How we handle bunt coverages and first-and-third scenarios … things like that. If we do the little things right, that’s how you get to the next point.”

The lone positional player gone from a year ago is his son, Thomas Rice, a catcher now at Saginaw Valley State. Additionally, pitcher Nathan Super, who threw a one-hitter in the regional finals last season and is now at Heidelberg, was also lost to graduation.

“The biggest question mark we have is how we replace our catcher,” the seventh-year Mooney head coach noted. “The catching position is a big key this year. With my standard for baseball, that’s the main concern I have.”

Junior Anthony Girling and sophomore Avery Brohl, who played all over the field a year ago depending on who was pitching and finished with the second best batting average on the team, are contending for the catching position with the “loser” starting at second base where Girling played in 2022.

Ty Boedeker, the 32nd-rated 2024 shortstop in the state, will anchor the infield in his third season as a starter.

Trent Rice, an Oakland commit rated 44th in the Michigan senior class, returns to pitch and play center field for his uncle, who enters the upcoming campaign with 101 coaching victories.

Southpaw Blake Lutzky, the eighth-ranked senior first baseman in the state, will join Rice at the top of the pitching staff with Caden Feddersen, the 28th-ranked 2023 left-handed pitcher in Michigan, adding depth.

Ryan Trombley returns to play first or third while Joseph Doddy, a freshman, could also be at third if Trombley is at first.

Junior George Szep, a transfer from St. Clair last season who was injured in 2022, is an additional potential pitcher who will play left field. Cam Spezia, a left-handed hitting sophomore, is another potential second baseman battling for playing time with senior Brendan Haisenleder, a Siena Heights football commit, likely in right field.

“I like the experience on this team,” Rice said. “Senior leadership will be huge. They’ve all played in the state championship so all have been in those big moments. They’re excited but not happy with how the seasons have ended.

“Generally we’re a young team with seniors sprinkled in,” Rice added. “But this year we have six seniors that will be in the lineup. This is my first year where we’re going to have an older team rather than have an up-and-coming team that’s going to be good. But losing our catcher could be huge. That will add more responsibilities to me, so I will be calling pitches.”

A difficult schedule, especially for a Division 4 team, awaits this year’s squad.

“The way I have scheduled, we have to learn how to handle losses,” explained Rice, whose Cardinals have moved up to Division 2 in the Catholic League. “I’m interested in seeing how we will handle playing the big schools. If we can stay together, we’ll be ready when we go down to play in the Division 4 tournament.”

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