Prep Baseball Report

Preseason Power 25 Countdown: No. 17 Kenosha Tremper



By Steve Nielsen
Scouting Supervisor – Wisconsin/Illinois

The Wisconsin high school season kicks off on March 31, the first day for regular season games. Most teams will begin practicing on March 23, getting their rosters set and finalizing their lineups.

Throughout the month of March we will be counting down our Preseason Power 25 Team Rankings leading up to the No. 1 team right before opening day.

CLICK HERE for complete Preseason Power 25.

No. 17 Kenosha Tremper

2014 Record: 12-14
WIAA Classification: 1
Conference:
Southeastern
Head Coach:
John Matera
2014 Playoff Run:
Regional Finals

TOP PLAYERS

Eric Paz, 1B/C, 2015 (Concordia)
Noah Jensen, INF, 2015 (UW-Whitewater)
Zach Fuhrer, P, 2015
Justin Lavey, 3B, 2016 (Louisville)
Keith Kutzler, RHP, 2016
Jeff Steuck, 1B, 2016
Jacob Delabio, RHP, 2016
Christian Zamudio, INF, 2016
Mitchell Buban, INF, 2017
Andrew Freiberg, LHP, 2017
Hunter Weddel, OF, 2017

X-FACTOR

The Trojan lineup should be one of the best in the state top to bottom. They legitimately have at least seven position players that will play college baseball and are some of the top players in their respective classes.

STAT RAT

Tremper returns 18 starts on the mound from last year’s club in Keith Kutzler, Jacob DeLabio and Andrew Freiberg. Of those 18 starts the trio combined for only 8 wins in 2014. After a year of varsity experience I would fully expect those wins to improve and should push Tremper into the 20 win mark in 2015.

OUTLOOK

Tremper is another one of my personal favorite sleepers in 2015 to make a deep run. Tremper is loaded with talent up and down their roster, they return two all-conference players from last year in juniors Justin Lavey and Keith Kutzler. Lavey who is a Louisville commit, is one of the top players in the state and should be an offensive threat in the middle of the Trojan lineup. The Trojans only went 12-14 last year and had a short playoff run, losing in the second round. However, they return 18 starts on the mound from last year, all of which are still underclassmen (Keith Kutzler, Jacob DeLabio and Andrew Freiberg). If the trio can turn more of those starts into wins in 2015 Tremper should be poised to make a deep run. A challenge for Coach Matera and his staff will be to find playing time and positions for all of his young infielders. The Trojans have a plethora of infielders throughout the 2015-2017 classes which should be varsity level contributors, some of which may have to move to the outfield to keep their bats in the lineup. The bottom line is the talent on the field for Tremper is as good as anyone in the state and if they can put it all together and push the right buttons they should make a run for the tough Southeastern Conference title and a trip to Appleton.

If you are a high school coach and have yet to send in your Preseason Questionnaire please fill one out HERE.

Related Content

WI 3.15.15 Madison Slide

 

By Steve Nielsen
Scouting Supervisor – Wisconsin/Illinois

The Wisconsin high school season kicks off on March 31, the first day for regular season games. Most teams will begin practicing on March 23, getting their rosters set and finalizing their lineups.

Throughout the month of March we will be counting down our Preseason Power 25 Team Rankings leading up to the No. 1 team right before opening day.

CLICK HERE for complete Preseason Power 25.

No. 17 Kenosha Tremper

2014 Record: 12-14
WIAA Classification: 1
Conference:
Southeastern
Head Coach:
John Matera
2014 Playoff Run:
Regional Finals

TOP PLAYERS

Eric Paz, 1B/C, 2015 (Concordia)
Noah Jensen, INF, 2015 (UW-Whitewater)
Zach Fuhrer, P, 2015
Justin Lavey, 3B, 2016 (Louisville)
Keith Kutzler, RHP, 2016
Jeff Steuck, 1B, 2016
Jacob Delabio, RHP, 2016
Christian Zamudio, INF, 2016
Mitchell Buban, INF, 2017
Andrew Frieberg, LHP, 2017
Hunter Weddel, OF, 2017

X-FACTOR

The Trojan lineup should be one of the best in the state top to bottom. They legitimately have at least seven position players that will play college baseball and are some of the top players in their respective classes.

STAT RAT

Tremper returns 18 starts on the mound from last year’s club in Keith Kutzler, Jacob DeLabio and Andrew Frieberg. Of those 18 starts the trio combined for only 8 wins in 2014. After a year of varsity experience I would fully expect those wins to improve and should push Tremper into the 20 win mark in 2015.

OUTLOOK

Tremper is another one of my personal favorite sleepers in 2015 to make a deep run. Tremper is loaded with talent up and down their roster, they return two all-conference players from last year in juniors Justin Lavey and Keith Kutzler. Lavey who is a Louisville commit, is one of the top players in the state and should be an offensive threat in the middle of the Trojan lineup. The Trojans only went 12-14 last year and had a short playoff run, losing in the second round. However, they return 18 starts on the mound from last year, all of which are still underclassmen (Keith Kutzler, Jacob DeLabio and Andrew Freiberg). If the trio can turn more of those starts into wins in 2015 Tremper should be poised to make a deep run. A challenge for Coach Matera and his staff will be to find playing time and positions for all of his young infielders. The Trojans have a plethora of infielders throughout the 2015-2017 classes which should be varsity level contributors, some of which may have to move to the outfield to keep their bats in the lineup. The bottom line is the talent on the field for Tremper is as good as anyone in the state and if they can put it all together and push the right buttons they should make a run for the tough Southeastern Conference title and a trip to Appleton.

If you are a high school coach and have yet to send in your Preseason Questionnaire please fill one out HERE.