For the Palisades baseball team, it’s all about experience.
Last season, the Pirates posted an overall 15-7 mark, their season ending with a 4-0 loss to Palmerton in the District 11 Class 3A semifinals. They also advanced to the Colonial League semifinals, but they fell just short.
Palisades entered that 2022 campaign off their first team district title in school history, as they knocked off top-seeded Notre Dame and finished with an overall 16-9 mark. They lost in the opening round of the state playoffs.
This season, most of the Pirates’ veteran cast from last season, headed by Kyle McGrath, Nick Petrillo and Jaden Newton, have moved on to their next level beyond the Bucks County-based school.
With a few cast members returning, the Pirates have been going through a transition period. They began the week with an overall 5-10 record, still with an outside shot to make the district playoffs. However, they need to steer this ship out of recent rough waters that saw them drop three straight and five of their last six.
“For us, it is about getting varsity experience,” said head coach Gary Koenig. “We have some guys who lack varsity game experience. We lost a good group of guys who had put a lot of time into the program.
“Our guys knew they had big shoes to fill from last year’s team. They have been working hard, and you can see them progressing.”
Seniors Wyatt Harrar and Chase Kimbel have provided leadership to the evolving unit. Through 15 games, Harrar led the team in hitting with a .419 average, and he was tied with Kimbel with a team-high 18 hits. Kimbel had a .360 average.
On the mound, junior Tyler Bonelli has been the team’s workshorse, striking out 41 in 36 innings. Through 15 games, Bonelli had a 2-4 record with a 3.50 ERA.
For Bonelli, it has been a fast track.
“Tyler didn’t get to throw a lot of innings last year,” noted Koenig. “He worked hard in the offseason, and you could see that he was going to have a good year.
“He has mixed his pitches well, and has been able to step into a lead role for us.”
With a young team in the fold, Koenig believes his team can get back on their old route. The Pirates’ coffers are plentiful, as they began a junior high program this spring, and Koenig estimated there are roughly 30 middle schoolers in the program.
It will come down to experience.
“We have some good young players in the program,” added Koenig. “We like our direction, and we just need to get these guys more game experience.”
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