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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us June 10, 2005 Next step: Respectability Pilots look to rebound from disastrous 2004 season By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings The phrase “nowhere to go but up’ rarely fits a team more perfectly than it does this year’s version of the Ashland Pilots. ASHLAND PILOTS’ PLAYER SHELDON COTTS loads up during batting practice Tuesday at the North Mountain Park batting cages. Cotts and the rest of the Pilots look to bounce back this summer from last year’s disastrous 2-23-2 campaign. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings The local American Legion A squad is coming off a season in which it managed just two wins and two ties in 27 games, including a 2-20-2 record in Area 4 games. Worse, most of those losses were ugly, one-sided yawners that left players scratching their heads and coaches looking for answers. They may still be looking, but with an ever-narrowing field of vision. Unlike last year, when the team was made up primarily of players with little or no American Legion experience, this year’s squad will be almost identical — at most of the key positions, at least — to the one that competed all season for Ashland High. There will also be more continuity at the top, where AHS head coach Don Senestraro will be making his Pilots debut. Senestraro is taking a realistic approach to his first year with the team. The Pilots probably won’t contend for an Area 4 title, he says, but they won’t be as bad as last year, either. “I’ve got eight returners, so I’m not reinventing the wheel out there,” Senestraro said. “I’m hoping we can win 10 this year.” Ashland’s first chance to get in the win column is Saturday, when Central Point pays a visit to North Mountain Park for a season-opening doubleheader. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. Long summer Saturday’s games are the first of 30 on the Pilots’ schedule, not including one exhibition game and the Eagle Point Tournament, June 18-19. Ashland’s last regular season game is July 20 at Central Point. Like last year, 17 players make up the Pilots’ roster, and in another trend several will be constantly changing uniforms. Five players — Sam Gaviglio, Max Gordon, Matt Dierks, Luke Jannusch and Tyler Killeen — will be going back and forth between the Pilots and Ashland’s 15-year-old Babe Ruth team, according to Senestraro. That will likely put the most strain on the Pilots’ pitching rotation, which Senestraro has already labeled the key to the team’s success. Gaviglio and Killeen both will see time on the mound for the Pilots, but will be limited by their availability. On the bright side, Ashland’s top two hurlers won’t be. Aaron San Nicholas and Gus Gaviglio, Sam Gaviglio’s older brother, received the most starts during the high school season and should be just as busy for the Pilots. Both steadily improved as the varsity season went on and both showed, with varying degrees, the occasional flash of brilliance. Backing up that pitching staff will be an infield that already has at least one season of both American Legion and varsity high school ball under its belt. Robby Bruce will catch, Tysin Senestraro — the coach’s son — will start at second base, Justin Meza will start at third and Wes Dodds will take shortstop. At first base, Andrew Del Carlo, who graduated from Ashland High last week and is going to college on a water polo scholarship, will share time with Gus Gaviglio. Senestraro expects big things from Meza, who will be a junior at Ashland next fall, both in the field and at the plate. “He can hit for power, hit for average, he’s fast and he’s smart,” Senestraro said. “I’m looking forward to the next two years of coaching him at Ashland High School.” The outfield In the outfield, Don Senestraro said Sheldon Cotts will start in left, Max Gordon and Sam Littleton will share time in center and San Nicholas will play in right, when he’s not pitching. Senestraro is still figuring out who will take right when San Nicholas is on the mound. Other Pilots who will likely see playing time are Ben Morris, Jake Halverson and Steve Jorgensen. The batting lineup features mostly the same group that became progressively more dangerous as the high school season went on. Bruce batted a team-best .358 for the Grizzlies with eight doubles, San Nicholas was second with a .329 average and Del Carlo batted .320. Bruce also finished the high school season with the team’s best slugging percentage (.478) and no-base percentage (.487) for those with 10 at-bats or more. Jorgensen, another recent Ashland High grad, is probably Ashland’s most dangerous power hitter — he had four doubles, two triples and a home run for the Grizzlies — but he may not see a lot of playing time. That’s because Senestraro has maintained since he was hired in January that he will use the Pilots’ season primarily to develop future Grizzlies. To that end, Senestraro hopes to learn a lot about what he has in the cupboard this summer. “I’ll be able to tell if they’ve got what it takes to compete at this level,” he said. “They know that that’s what Legion’s about. It’s an honor to play on the team. There are no tryouts, you’re nominated by your coach and you’re asked to play. It’s kind of a tryout for varsity. That’s how I look at it.” Sports editor Joe Zavala can be reached at 482-3456 ext. 3020 or [email protected] DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams