Ode Takes Over Mehlville Baseball Program

A new era of baseball is underway at Mehlville, but do not expect a drastic change in style.

Long-time assistant coach Tim Ode has taken over the Panther dugout as former coach Bob Kern is now the school’s athletic director. Ode worked alongside Kern for the past six years, and says the changeover has been smooth.

“It’s been a pretty easy transition to be honest. Bob and I have known each other for quite a while. We played together growing up and have worked as a duo for several years,” Ode said. “We both did the on-field stuff together and have similar styles, philosophies and principles about the game. It’s more the behind-the-scenes stuff, the organization, that has been challenging.”

Ode has a particularly difficult circumstance—nearly every significant athlete from last season has graduated, leaving only a few behind. In 2010, Mehlville went 18-9 and was a co-champion in the Suburban West Conference.

“The difference between this team and last year is night and day," Ode said. "We only had three players that came back who made much of a contribution last season and we lost every starting position player except for one. We lost every pitcher but one. We have to rebuild from every aspect.”

Senior catcher Sean Kennedy was expected to be a key contributor for the Panthers, but he has been shut down for the season because of lingering elbow problems from a football injury. He had a .458 batting average in limited time last season.

The Panthers evened their early season record to 2-2 with an 11-5 victory Thursday at home over St. Mary’s High School. Mehlville rallied from a 3-0 deficit as senior catcher Grant Steiger went 4-for-4 with two doubles, and junior third baseman Austin Simokaitis went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run.

Steiger hit .338 in 2010 with 13 RBI, and is 8-for-14 this season with four doubles and four RBI.

“We had Steiger penciled in as our starting center fielder, but we’ve had to move him to catcher. He’s a really gifted athlete and is our No. 3 hitter,” Ode said. “He caught for us as a sophomore, but he played right field last season and is our best hitter.”

Ode made it clear he will be relying heavily on Simokaitis in multiple roles. He closed the game in the seventh against St. Mary’s with a scoreless inning. Simokaitis did not play much offense in 2010, but as a pitcher, he was 4-1 last season with a 2.25 ERA in 37 innings. He also had 35 strikeouts and just 10 walks. 

“Our best pitcher statistically last season was Austin Simokaitis. He shut down SLUH, and one-hit them when they were ranked No. 2 in the area,” Ode said. “He was kind of an unknown as a sophomore last season but we’ll go to him in the big games this season.”

Simokaitis will alternate between batting second and fifth. Senior Mark O’Moran will bat fourth, and is the team’s most powerful hitter. O’Moran batted .311 with 14 RBI last season. Mehlville’s leadoff hitter is junior newcomer Brandon Zufall, who is off to a 6-for-14 start with a team-best six runs.

While Simokaitis is Ode’s pitching ace, O’Moran is a close second. O’Moran pitched 16 innings last season with a 5.69 ERA, but will see more time in 2011.

“With how our conference schedule is set up this year, we almost have to have two number ones because of the back-to-back series,” Ode said. “But we should have an ace going in each series.”

Junior Kurt McGuire is the No. 3 starter. He beat Affton on March 22 with six solid innings. Several players are contending for the rotation’s fourth spot. Ode started junior Dylan Anzalone against St. Mary’s, and he earned the victory after hurling six innings and allowing four earned runs and just one walk.

“We have a lot of young talent that will be here for awhile, so it will be interesting to see what direction we go. We have kids who have been waiting for their turn to shine. It’s a very good mixture,” he said.

When asked about his season outlook, Ode said, “It is premature to put any realistic expectations on it because I am not sure what we are capable of. But repeating as conference co-champions is hard."

“People don’t expect us to be good. I don’t mind the role of underdog and think we can really surprise some people.”

The Suburban West is loaded with high-quality programs.

“You have perennial powerhouse programs in this conference. Oakville is always solid, Parkway South and Lafayette always have tons of talent, Marquette too. From top to bottom, it is tough,” Ode said.