Magnolia Head Coach Dave Cisar is optimistic his 2019 Blue Eagles baseball team will be a competitive team despite playing perhaps the toughest single A schedule in the state. Cisar, who is entering year 46 as the New Martinsville boss, has made a habit of playing some of the top baseball programs, regardless of class; this year will be no exception.

Gone from last season’s 12-13 record club are four players Cisar said will be missed and hard to replace. Lost by graduation are first baseman Leo Herrick, catcher/utility Billy Nice, pitcher/outfield Dalton Pritchard, and utility player Brody Cartwright.

“It’s always hard to replace players from the previous season, but we think we have some real good baseball players, and that’s a plus. Some kids just want to play, and some have a real passion for it. We believe some of these kids have that passion,” Coach Cisar said.

“We not only lost four quality players from last season, we also lost a very good coach in John Smith. John had been with me for several years, and I wish he could have stayed, but his position with the vocational agricultural program and his educational duties didn’t allow him the time. John Smith was like a son to me, and I loved him like one. He’s welcome to come around anytime he wants. On the bright side, we are very fortunate to get Vance Ash back. He was my assistant for 13 years, and he will be a plus to our program,” said Coach Cisar.

“Vance Ash is not our assistant coach, he’s our assistant head coach. He knows baseball inside and out, and he’s a great communicator with kids, an excellent teacher of the game. I feel very confident that if anything were to happen, Vance could run this program just as good as I can.”

The Blue Eagles have a roster of 16 to choose from, and competition for playing time seems to be heating up as they draw closer to opening day. Cisar returns six starters, including senior first team All-State center-fielder Patrick Mirandy, and junior Jake Gamble, last year’s top pitcher. When not pitching Gamble will be at short stop. Mirandy and Gamble will be the top two on the mound.

Senior Eli Nice will be back in left field for the second year, and senior Jared Kocher will return to handle third. Matt Gaiser, last year’s first baseman, will return for another year at that spot. Sophomore Silas McKeever returns for his second year in right field.

Cisar is looking at several players to fill the rest of the openings. Right now he has sophomore Woody London taking on the tough task of replacing Billy Nice at catcher. Freshman Brendan Mirandy looks to get the starting job at second, while sophomore Caden Cisar will get playing time at short. B. Mirandy, Kocher and Cisar will all see time pitching.

Other players trying for playing time include freshman Brady Renner, middle infield; first year senior Cameron Duke, backup catcher; freshman Kaleb Starkey, outfield; freshman Mason Bennett, outfield/catcher; sophomore Austin Scheibelhood, middle infield; sophomore Charlie Taylor, first base; and freshman Drake Kocher, infield.

“We play the best teams we can; our schedule is second to none. We have Tyler, St. Marys, Fort Frye, Barnesville, and Martins Ferry, just to name a few. Those are good baseball schools. We feel pretty good about this group; they love to play baseball and have been working real hard. We think we will be a pretty good team,” Coach Cisar said.

Coach Cisar said he is closing in on 900 career wins; he said he doesn’t know exactly where he’s at, but it’s getting close. From all indications, this team may be the one that helps him to that mark. Nine hundred wins in high school is a lot of wins. On average, that comes to around 20 wins per season over 45 years. “A lifetime of coaching.”

While talking to Coach Ciasar about such an accomplishment, he said it’s means something to him, but what means the most is knowing he has been able to help a lot of kids learn the game of baseball. Cisar said he’s been blessed to have some talented baseball players at Magnolia, and he couldn’t have accomplished anything without them.

Look for the Blue Eagles to have a banner year, and let’s root for Coach Cisar to reach 900. With a quality head coach, and a quality assistant head coach leading a quality group of kids, things are looking up for Magnolia Baseball.”