[Stardust]

ERLANGER — A promising season for the Lloyd Memorial High School baseball team in 2011 was cut short with a one-run loss to St. Henry in the 34th District Tournament. The Juggernauts want to make up for that this year and challenge perennial district favorite Dixie Heights.

“They started talking about coming back and winning the district championship that night they lost to St. Henry in the districts,” said head coach Aaron Moore. “We played Dixie last week and they thumped us pretty good (10-5 win). What I told them after the game is if you want a district championship, that’s what it goes through. It’s up to us to take it if you want it.”

Lloyd is 6-4 for the year entering a spring break weekend tournament in Pulaski County, where the team was scheduled to play four games April 5-7.

“We’re looking forward to getting some different competition,” Moore said. “The guys are excited to get out of town and hang out for a while. My biggest concern is having enough pitching. Guys are going to have to step up. I only carry 13 guys right now and I’m looking to see what we have, but I feel we’re as deep as we’ve been in the past couple of years.”

The Juggernauts have run behind the pitching of junior Addison Brown and senior Tim Rogers.

“Our pitching has been really good,” Moore said. “The last couple of outings from (Brown and Rogers), we didn’t hit enough to get wins. We’ve played well defensively.”

Brown, the returning ace of the staff, joined the team late because of the basketball team’s run to the regional semifinals.

“I didn’t get him until much later than I used to, so his progression took a little bit longer,” Moore said. “He threw five innings against Holy Cross and only gave up one run, and his pitch count was at 80. You could tell when he got to 80 he wasn’t in midseason form, but that’s the best I’ve seen him look.”

Rogers, a senior, is coming off a strong 2011 season.

“He benefited from a lot of hard work in the offseason,” Moore said. “He has been our sharpest pitcher. He’s not going to strike out a lot of guys, but he throws strikes and doesn’t walk guys. Our defense has to be on their toes for him and they’ve done that.”

Senior center fielder Tyler York starts off the offense from the number one spot.

“He’s always on base and does the little things to get on base like bunt,” Moore said. “He steals bases. When he’s on base, I feel confident in our ability to score runs. In center field, you’d be hard pressed to find a guy who gets to more balls than he does.”

After coming back into town, Lloyd was set to play at Holmes April 9, host Beechwood April 10, go to Brossart April 11 and host Bourbon County April 14.http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/app...304070008/