Arlington baseball returns key infielders along with lefty hurler Austin Taylor

As far as Arlington manager Eric Heinz is concerned, this season the Wesco North is going to be split into two groups, Lake Stevens and everybody else. “Lake Stevens is the favorite heading in,” said Heinz. “But the rest of the league is going to be a dog fight, and I think we’re right in the middle of it.”

By Travis Sherer • March 16, 2011 12:18 pm
Arlington senior pitcher Austin Taylor warms up his arm with a game of long toss at the beginning of practice.
Arlington senior pitcher Austin Taylor warms up his arm with a game of long toss at the beginning of practice.

ARLINGTON — As far as Arlington manager Eric Heinz is concerned, this season the Wesco North is going to be split into two groups, Lake Stevens and everybody else.

“Lake Stevens is the favorite heading in,” said Heinz. “But the rest of the league is going to be a dog fight, and I think we’re right in the middle of it.”

The Eagles are looking forward in 2011, after coming just one out away from a district tournament berth against Oak Harbor last year, which scored six runs in the final inning of a 6-4 heartbreaker at home. Arlington then lost at Oak Harbor five days later in a loser-out game to finish 7-13 on the season.

“I felt like we were right there last year,” said Heinz. “We lost something like five one-run games some of the better teams in the league where if we could just close out some of those games, we would have been in the playoffs.”

The Eagles return a number of players from that team that Heinz said is determined not to let the same thing happen again, and it starts with senior pitcher Austin Taylor.

“This summer he did the same thing he’s done the past couple of years, just dominate hitters,” said Heinz about the crafty southpaw. “But most people forget that he is probably one of our better hitters and we’re expecting big things from him in the middle of the lineup.”

Behind Taylor in the rotation will be Tre Mandenhall, a four-year varsity player.

Meanwhile, a pair of trusty hitters in Clay Trushinsky (shortstop) and Tyler Wllin (left field) will return to the varsity squad. Also, Heinz hopes Ben Larson will be able to scare some pitchers with his size and his bat.

“Ben has worked hard in the offseason and we hope that his power will be here when the season starts,” said Heinz.

Winning in the Western Conference isn’t going to be easy, but Heinz believes his defense in up the middle will set the tone for the season.

“If you’re strong up the middle, you have a good chance of being successful,” said Heinz. “And we’ve got a number of guys from catcher through centerfield that can really field their spot and that’s what I see as an advantage for us so far.”