[Stardust]

The Holy Cross baseball team certainly has some big footsteps to follow this season after the football team, volleyball team and boys’ basketball team all won state championships, but it certainly has the talent to do so.

Holy Cross returns five starters, including its top two pitchers and leading hitter, from last year’s team that went 24-8 last season, so hope is high that the baseball team can replicate what the other three state championship programs accomplished.

The volleyball team and boys’ basketball team both won Touchstone Energy All ‘A’ Classic titles, while the football team won the Kentucky High School Athletic Association state championship.

“It’s been fun to be around it all year,” said Holy Cross baseball coach Mike Holtz, who guided the 2009 team to a runner-up finish in the All ‘A’ Classic State Tournament. “It’s just an atmosphere of success, where success breeds success. It’s a good thing that now it’s on us to win. We’re looking forward to it.

“One of our goals every year is win the All ‘A’ regional and make run at the state level and win our (KHSAA) district and make a run in the region. It’s not a dream, it’s something we can do. We saw other people do it.

“Why not us?”

Among the Indians returnees are two 2011 Enquirer first-team All-Stars:

• Pitcher Kyle Fuller, who went 7-0 with a 1.86 ERA and was the quarterback on the football team and a key reserve on the basketball team.

• Junior infielder/pitcher Blake Tiberi, who hit .546 with 18 doubles and 33 RBI and was 4-0 with a 1.30 ERA as a pitcher.

Fuller is expected to play both football and baseball at Thomas More College, according to Holtz.

Tiberi is a Division I baseball recruit.

“He’s as good a hitter as I’ve seen in my 16 years,” said Holtz. “When he’s on, he’s hitting it hard the other way.

“He needs to just be disciplined to make sure he swings at pitches he can hit, because not too many teams are going to throw him much.”

The Indians not only have a chance to compete for the All ‘A’ Classic regional title, but also the KHSAA Ninth Region championship, despite losing six seniors off last year’s team, four of whom were pitchers.

“Out depth of pitching and defining roles is the biggest key” said Holtz. “We have a lot of guys who can do it and haven’t done it yet. The past few years we went seven deep in our pitching rotation, but we aren’t quite there yet.”

The Indians could be close, thanks to the likes of senior Jake Woeste and the return of senior basketball standout Jake Burger, who hasn’t played baseball since he was a freshman.”

Holy Cross will certainly be pushed in its own district – the 35th – thanks to Covington Catholic returning eight starters and 21 of its 28 pitching victories, and perennial power Beechwood, which only has three returning position players and lost its top two starting pitchers.

“The 35th is always tough,” said Holtz. “If we can come out of there we think we have as good a chance as anybody to win it. It’s not a patty-cake to get out of there, but if we do, we know we’ve earned it.”
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