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PBR Michigan Division 2 Team Of The Week - Holland Christian

HOLLAND - Veteran head coach Jim Caserta called an 18-13 campaign in 2018 “a rough year” for Holland Christian.

With the top-ranked senior in the state leading the way in 2019, Holland Christian is off to a 5-0 start this season and is the Prep Baseball Report Division 2 Team of the Week.

“We knew we were really young last year, most of the time with four sophomores starting,” noted Caserta, a sixth-year head coach at Holland Christian who was in charge of the West Ottawa program for 13 years prior to coming to the Maroons. “This year we felt we’d be more consistent.”

After hitting less than .300 as a team a year ago with just three seniors on the roster, Holland Christian is batting .320 so far in 2019.

“That isn’t great, but it hasn’t been the best weather,” Caserta said. “The first couple games it was 38 degrees.”

If the Maroons can produce at the plate, however, the outlook is bright, especially when Christopher Mokma (Video) is on the mound. The Michigan State signee threw a perfect game this past week, the third of his career to tie the state record.

“That was the best I’ve seen Chris throw,” Caserta said of his performance in a 10-0 win over Unity Christian. “He had good command of all three pitches.”

The 6-5 190-pound right-hander follows in the footsteps of his older brother Michael, now a junior pitcher at Michigan State who led Holland Christian to the 2016 state championship with “the greatest high school season I’ve ever had a player have” according to Caserta.

The older Mokma was 15-0 that season, numbers that will never likely be approached in the days of pitch counts. But younger brother Chris does have the opportunity to equal what his brother accomplished in bringing a state title to the program, but help is needed.

“Pitching is the key no matter what happens,” Caserta said about the prospects of making a long tournament run. “That’s still the biggest priority for us. Pitching has to be consistent.”

Junior left-hander Gabe DeBoer gives Holland Christian a solid number two hurler.

“He’s done a nice job,” Caserta said of DeBoer, who bats second and plays center field when not pitching. “He’s a baseball kid that works at it a lot. He’s a sneaky left-handed- pitcher with a nice breaking ball.”

Leadoff hitter Brady Howe is another strong part of the Holland Christian lineup. A left-handed leadoff hitter, the senior led the squad in batting a year ago with a .376 average.

“He’s a versatile player who can play outfield and catch, but he’s playing third base for us right now,” Caserta said of the 6-1 157-pounder who is headed to play college football at Hope as a defensive back and wide receiver.

Caserta, who coached high school football for 35 years and is currently on the Hope College staff as the quarterbacks coach, sees hitting as a big part of his team’s chances this year.

“To be competitive and be at the level we want to be, we have to hit better than last year,” said Caserta, with Wilson Wirebaugh and Trent Lamb among those being counted on to produce at the pate. “Down the road, how far we go will depend on it.”

Manufacturing runs in whatever way possible is another important part of the offense.

“It’s hard for high school teams to hit home runs any more,” Caserta noted. “Last year we didn’t have the power to drive the ball into gaps when we needed them. We had to play with what we had with the strength of our guys. This year, we’re a year older, and I think we can do that a little more. We also need to be able to do other things to help move runners along.”