The Sinclair Pride baseball team starts practice this month and head coach Steve Dintaman says the Pride should be one of the best teams they have ever put on the field.<\/p>\n
Dintaman was a former player and assistant under former Pride head coach Mike Goldschmidt.\u00a0 Dintaman was named head coach in Aug. 2007 after Goldschmidt took the Urbana head coaching position.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a good core of good character guys,\u201d says Dintaman.\u00a0 \u201cI think this team will be probably one of the most enjoyable teams I\u2019ve been around.\u201d<\/p>\n
With eight players returning, Sinclair\u2019s leadership and depth becomes an asset.\u00a0 Pride players selected four captains for the 2009 season:\u00a0 outfielder Dan Marsh, pitcher Kyle Hopwood, infielder Taylor Hoisington and first baseman Ricky Masson.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe strength, besides having good character guys, is our leadership in our sophomore position players,\u201d says Dintaman.<\/p>\n
Dintaman says that there is a lot of guys who can contribute right away and that his freshman pitching class is the most talented to ever arrive at Sinclair.<\/p>\n
Last season, the Pride finished with a 24-18 record and a trip to the NJCAA Region 12 Tournament.<\/p>\n
According to Dintaman, the Pride will open their season on Feb. 22, but that is subject to change.<\/p>\n