2018 Mercury-Area Baseball Preview

Phoenixville

Manager: Neil Herman, third season.

Last year’s record: 10-6 PAC, 11-9 overall. (District 1-5A playoff qualifier).

Players to watch: Seniors: Kevin Cushing, P/INF; Luke LeBeau, INF; Nick Opalkowski, C. Junior: Trip Shoemaker, P/OF.

Outlook: The Phantoms were quietly strong last season, pulling out impressive wins over PAC contenders Spring-Ford, Owen J. Roberts and Boyertown before just missing out on making the PAC Final Four playoffs. Cushing (3-1, 0.61 ERA) will return atop Phoenixville’s rotation, a season after he posted a perfect game against Pottstown while Opalkowski, LeBeau and Shoemaker return as the team’s leading hitters. “This is a senior-driven team with some varsity-experienced underclassmen,” said Herman. “This looks to be a very competitive season with most of the teams bringing back the core of their playoff teams from last season and don’t count out the teams that just missed the 2017 district playoffs.”