Preseason Power 25 Countdown: No. 22 Kenosha Tremper

The WIAA high school baseball season opens on March 26, the opening day for prep baseball in Wisconsin.

Leading up to the opening week of action, we’ll be rolling out team-by-team previews, counting down to our state’s preseason No. 1-ranked program for the 2019 season. We’re combing over all classifications and corners of the state to determine our top-25 ranked teams ahead of what’s sure to be an historic campaign, with the merging of the spring and summer divisions into one single WIAA season.

Perennially, we’ve submitted a Preseason Questionnaire to high school head coaches across the entire state. Their responses have been flooding in and we’re using the detailed insight they’ve provided in our analysis.

Our 2019 preseason coverage continues today.

Team: Tremper
Preseason Rank: 22
2018 Record: 21-5
Conference: Southeast
WIAA Division: 1
Head Coach: John Matera
Playoff Run: Sectional Finalists
2018 Final Rank: 12
Returning Starters: 5
Returning Pitchers: 1

TOP PLAYERS

KEY PLAYERS LOST

Chandler Giampietro, OF (Roosevelt)
Dante Guarascio, RHP/1B
Kyle Humphres, LHP (Lake County CC)
Eddie Makar, INF
Alex Moyao, OF (Rock Valley JC)
Harry Orth, RHP (Wisconsin-Oshkosh)
Stephen Schmidt, C
Jordan Smith, INF
Brandon Watkins, OF (Anoka-Ramsey CC)

NEWCOMER TO WATCH

We’ll mention this more in-depth later on, but the Tremper Trojans are lacking, severely, in returning arms to lean on. This creates opportunity for talented underclassmen to grab regular roles a year or two earlier than expected, and that’s exactly the case with sophomore righty Kalieb Lyon.

We just saw Lyon last at the Kenosha Preseason I.D. back in January, where the big 6-foot-2, 175-pound prospect showed promise. While his size suggests there’s going to be more velocity in the tank down the road, his upper-70s fastball should play at the varsity level now, given the deception in his delivery. He has the makings of a couple reliable offspeed offerings, which could help Lyon carve out a regular role on a staff looking for more than just an innings eater. Lyon has some raw bat strength, too, and could help out in some way in the lineup, if given the opportunity.

X-FACTOR

Jared Heinzen just couldn’t quite put it all together in his junior season. Maybe he was pressing too hard, who knows, but the Parkside commit scuffled in abbreviated looks on both the mound and in the batter’s box for Tremper in 2018. Still, the talent is here.

He’s the No. 147-ranked prospect in the state because, from a tools perspective, the package exists for him to become an all-around contributor. He’s a sub-6.90 runner in the 60-yard dash, uses it well in the outfield, and is capable of making loud contact from the right-handed batter’s box. Some of these projectable tools-y types take an extra year or two to begin to really string their skills into a complete profile, and that just might be the case here for Heinzen.

If he’s able to polish his raw abilities, then Tremper is going to have two fewer holes to worry about. He can give them back some of the many innings they lost to graduation in 2018 and can take over an open slot in the outfield, as well.

Jared Heinzen (7.24.18)

OUTLOOK

For the last nine years, a Kenosha-area program has won the Southeast Conference – Indian Trail twice, Bradford five times, and now Tremper, which has won back-to-back conference titles. This conference is always grueling, filled with rivalry games one after the other, but it’s about to get a new, even more competitive dosage of talent.

It was always going to be interesting to see where historic summer programs Franklin and Oak Creek landed after the statewide switch to spring ball was instituted, and now we know: the Southeast. This conference has the makings of becoming the most interesting group to watch in the entire state and the Trojans are going to be up for the challenge.

The back-to-back Southeast champs are missing some of the key pieces on last year’s title team, too. The Trojans are returning five starters from last season’s 21-win lineup, including two all-conference selections: starting shortstop Reese Dutton and uncommitted senior outfielder Jordan Kehl. However, this pitching staff is going to be almost entirely new.

For now, let’s hone in on what Dutton brings to the Trojans. On offense, the Heartland Community College commit was arguably the team’s most productive hitter. While he didn’t lead the team in average, he did lead the Trojans in extra bases (8), with five doubles and three triples, which helped him drive in 20 Tremper runs. And his .505 on-base percentage was second only to the since-graduated Eddie Makar. Dutton is a top-40-ranked prospect on our own 2020 board within the state, and much of that has to do with his glove. He’s got the range and handiwork to solidify the middle of the infield for a pitching staff that might need some help securing outs.

While he was more often used as a reliever, it’s possible he’ll be stretched out to start a little more than he did in 2018. The Trojans graduated their three most-used arms from last spring: Dante Guarascio, Harry Orth, and Kyle Humphres. Dutton was fourth on last year’s list, and did, however, make four starts of his own. Given the thinness of this year’s staff, Dutton might be stretched out in order to do some of the heavy lifting within the rotation.

Senior outfielder Kehl and Henizen have immensely important roles on this team. A Heinzen bounceback season, as stated above, would patch the holes left from the 2018 graduation and Kehl just has to be the sturdy force he was in the order last spring, one who hit .375 as a junior. Backstop Jake Springer is also critical to Tremper, as someone who appeared in 14 games last spring, hit .261, and will have his role expanded.

A developmental step forward is fair to expect from sophomore Ben Loyd, too. The middle infielder committed to Purdue since the 2018 season ended and should help Dutton make one of the more enviable up-the-middle tandems in the Southeast, if not, the state. He hit .277 in 71 plate appearances as a freshman in 2018, and has only getting better in front of our staff, so we’re optimistic he can become an even bigger factor for the Trojans as soon as opening day.

Junior Alex Wajerski hit .290 as a sophomore and should be the third man in the Kehl-Heinzen outfield. He wasn’t a full-blown starter last spring, but appears ready to contribute as one in 2019.

And Wajerski’s classmate, first baseman Jason Brulport, is also going to be a factor and force in the lineup. He’s gotten better in front of our staff over the offseason and made some hard, aggressive contact at the West Milwaukee Preseason I.D. last month. He’s the perfect option to surround the likes of Kehl and Dutton in the middle of this order, if he hits like we think he’s capable of.

BOTTOM LINE

Tremper’s everyday lineup looks as if, on paper, it’s going to be able to hang with the rest of its rivals – new and old – in the Southeast Conference. The worry here is that the three arms the program graduated last spring left too big a hole to recover from in just a single offseason.

Regardless, under the command of 16-year head coach John Matera, the Trojans should be more than able to make a third straight run at the conference title possible, with hopes set beyond their own backyard this time.

Make sure to follow @PBRWisconsin on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage throughout the season.