The loss of Mitch Asman on the field is huge for the Panthers this baseball season. But just because Mitch isn’t going to be on the field doesn’t mean he won’t be contributing to the team. Mitch will be in the dugout for our games and practices to do anything he can to help the team. Mitch said, “ If needed, people can ask me for help about the mechanic aspect of the game, but Coach Thompson and the others usually are the ones to help with those things. I think I will be able to lighten the mood in the dugout and keep the team loose. I think my hardest assignment the coaches gave me was making sure T.J. Nicholson and Austin Koch don’t run off together.” With the loss of Mitch and Joe Ramstetter for the whole season many people speculated that Nick Beard would be the Panthers new ace, so I decided to talkto him about how he feels about the season and how he thinks Mitch will be able to help the team. “Losing Joe and Mitch was a big loss. This is a big opportunity for me to step up and help the team. Since Mitch is such a smart pitcher, he will be able to help our pitchers with strategy so they can attack the hitters and get quick outs.” Mitch was one of the hardest workers in the offseason. He never missed our optional lifting and conditioning days, and on our days off you could usually find him in the weight room trying to get extra lifts in. He was always doing extra hitting and throwing trying to be the best he could be. I think that is why he will be such agreat asset in our dugout this year. If he can instill some of his attitude and approach to the game in the rest of the team it will make a huge difference. Ben Kenning told me, “Even though Mitch won’t be a captain on the field, he will be a leader in the dugout. He probably will make the dugout a lot funnier too. I think Mitch will help me a lot because I am going to be pitching this year, which is something that I haven’t done a lot of the past couple of years, so I will definitely be able to use Mitch’s expertise on the mound to my advantage.” Everybody knows Mitch would do anything to lace up those spikes for his senior year, but the best he can do right now is be there for his team when they need him. When his arm is finally healed after those arduous 9 months, I’m sure Mitch will be stunning scouts, fans, and players at Sinclair. Until then Mitch will be in the dugout with his Panthers. You can find a complete Elder Baseball Schedule on http://www.ehsports.com .