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Preseason Preview: Oak Creek Knights

May 23, 2013

By Steve Nielsen
Scouting Director - Wisconsin

The Oak Creek Knights are the defending Sumer State Champions, coming off of a 28-7 season and look poised to make a repeat run at another state championship.

Although the Knights only return four starters from last season’s title team, Oak Creek will look to a number of underclassmen to carry some of the load.

Coach Holler will be relying heavily on the help of their sophomore class. Right-handed pitcher Mitchel Makarewicz (2015) is coming off of an undefeated freshman campaign in which he went 3-0 with a 3.69 ERA. Makarewicz is the No. 10 ranked player in Wisconsin’s 2015 class and recently earned 1st Team honors in the Hitters’ Spring League after posting a 0.78 ERA and striking out 20 in 18 innings of work.

Doran Turchin (2015) is another sophomore Knight that will be asked to contribute again this year. Last season as a freshman Turchin hit .347 for the state champs. Turchin is an athletic and physically developed outfielder with a big arm. Turchin is the No. 7 prospect in his class and should bring a powerful athletic bat to the middle of the Oak Creek lineup.

Nathan Veloz (2015) is a left-handed pitcher that you can’t miss. At 6-foot-4, 295-pounds, Veloz throws a heavy fastball with sink that sits in the 82-84 mph range. He also flashes an above average breaking ball with good depth. Veloz should be a big contributor to the Knight staff in 2013.

Winona State commit Hayden Krimmer (2013) is the undeniable leader heading into 2013. Krimmer is an important cog on both sides of the baseball, as their top returning pitcher and middle of the lineup hitting shortstop. Krimmer is a returning First Team All-Conference selection after posting an 8-1 record on the mound with a 2.46 ERA. Krimmer also hit .346 out of the four-hole and will look to improve on those numbers and lead the Knights once again to the title game. We’ve seen Krimmer touching 90 mph on multiple occasions this spring in the Hitters’ Spring League where he earned 1st-Team honors there as well.

Dakota Slone (2013) and Matt Hargreaves (2014) round out the Oak Creek returning starters from last season. Slone is a left handed hitting senior outfielder who hit .413 for last year’s state champs while Hargreaves is entering his junior season after hitting .286 as a sophomore for the Knights last year.

Coach Holler and Oak Creek will kick off their 2013 campaign on May 23, opening up against New Berlin Eisenhower.

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