Look for Spring Hill to be in the thick of the SCL-North race, if not leading it all year long.

The Chargers feature a multi-faceted offense and have good pitchers to go along with their hitters. Shawn Schoenberg has, in recent years, emerged as the player most think of when Spring Hill is mentioned. It is not without some good reason. He is an above average hitter (.366) with power and speed (3 home runs, 4 doubles). On base he is a threat to steal (10 stolen bases) or take and extra base when a teams delivers a hit.

It was his hitting, as well as his pitching, that made him a draftee selection by New Munich last season. Both were good reasons to draft him. His 1.48 ERA as among the best in the SCL-North as he pitched 54.2 innings.

Another player to consider is [Nathan Terre]s, the catcher drafted by Elrosa for pos-league play last year. A .333 hitter, he too has some power (3 home runs), and speed (11 steals). He is also a good defensive catcher and has learned how to call a game.

Neither of them, however, was the team's top batter last year. That honor went to Jamie Terres, a .412 hitter who scored 25 runs (also team best) and drove in 18 runs. The top RBI man on the team was Corey Schoenberg with 23. He had more than 20 hits on the year.

Besides Shawn Schoenberg, the Chargers also have the arm of Eric Schoenberg, Chris Spanier, and Aaron Welle to help get them through games. Eric Schoenberg finished 5-1 with 46 innings last season. Spanier (2-1) and Welle (3-0) also helped keep opposing teams in check.

While the team had a good regular season last year, the season ended with a quick exit from the playoffs. This year managers Randy Schoenberg and Gordon Barten would like to see a bit more consistency in the team's play. While their offensive and pitching numbers are respectable. They were an average. If the team finds a way to play with a bit more consistency, it could very well make 2010 a memorable year.

(Melrose Beacon)