There will be massive turnover within Brunswick’s baseball team this offseason. The roster tells as much.

With double-digit seniors on the Blue Devils’ lineup card, second-year coach Grant Relic knew some reconstruction was going to be necessary before he becomes a third year coach. The hope is there will be no drop-off and the team will sustain momentum gathered in Relic’s second year at the helm.

Brunswick finished the 2018 season 17-9 overall. The Blue Devils were 10-4 in the Greater Cleveland Conference, runners-up to Solon by one game. That’s an improvement over 13-13, 6-4 a year ago.

Keeping things going won’t be easy after a large senior class moves on.

Leaders in that group include third baseman/outfielder Frank Ciacchi, (.385, team-high 5 HR, 28 RBI, 25 runs, team-best 22 walks and .567 on-base average), second baseman/outfielder Brandon Szopo (.389, 30 runs), outfielder Dan Rogers (.338 21 RBI 16 runs), and shortstop Brian Hama (.318, 22 RBI, 17 runs.)

On the mound, Colin Thomas (2-1 2.53 ERA 13 strikeouts in 19 innings), and Jack Gleske (3-1, 4.92, 14 strikeouts in 20 innings) were key components. Others who have graduated include Clayton Stack, Manny Clement, Tyler Pastorelle, Zachary Lohr, Jared Vance and David Murach.

“(They) are a special group to me because I have been with most of them for four years, as many of them started with me when I was coaching our JV team prior to getting promoted to head varsity coach,” Relic said. “We had six guys who will continue playing baseball in college at various levels and this group left an impression for the underclassman.”

A couple of underclassmen left impressions of their own. Junior catcher Mike Williams and battery-mate/classmate Noah Herron look like cornerstone players heading to next season.

Williams has already established himself as an all-time Brunswick great. This year he hit a team-high .438 with 35 RBI and 31 runs, also team-bests. His 15 doubles set a school record and his 30 career two-batters already are a school career record.

“Mike Williams has always been able to showcase his baseball skills but this year he became a leader for us,” Relic said.

Herron was the team’s ace, going 4-2 with a 2.82 ERA and 34 strikeouts in a team-high 40 innings.

Another to watch from the Class of 2019 is Derek Kutrubs, who hit .325 in a team-high 107 plate-appearances. Outfielder Anthony Staimpel hit .333 in 15 at-bats. First baseman Joe Paulick, pitcher/second baseman Kyle Kuchta and outfielder Cory Miller also had some opportunities.

Among sophomores, pitcher/outfielder Scott Rouse was 2-0 with a 4.94 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 23 innings. Catcher/third baseman Michael McFadden .333 in 39 at-bats. Cooper Fox also played a little on the varsity level.

“We feel very excited about what the future holds for us,” Relic said. “We return a very strong core of guys who will be seniors who have played a lot of varsity baseball the last few years.”

Relic said the key to maximizing the talent will be, “getting our players to buy into a true team mentality. I really want our guys to trust one another and not be selfish baseball players because if we can do that we can be a very dangerous team in the future.”