Milton Red Sox RHP Ian Zettle went 6-6, with a 5.08 ERA.

COBA Team Preview No. 4 – Milton Red Sox

By Dan Estey

The Milton Red Sox will be back at it again this season in the COBA Major League as they will look to build on a very successful 2018 season. Led by “El Mooro” George Moore at the helm and his assistant coaches Matt McCandless and Mike Austin, the Sox finished last season with a 21-23-1 record overall and an 11-16-1 record in league play good for second in the Johnson Division and sixth place overall in the standings. All coaches are returning for the 2019 season.

The Milton club attended three tournaments in 2018 season. They attended the Lakeside Invitational Tournament in London in early July. The Red Sox performed very well going 3-0 in round robin play and after defeating Leaside in the semi-finals dropped a tough decision to the Ilderton Red Army in the final.

Next was the Hap Walters tournament as the team went 2-1 in round robin play and grabbed a wild card spot in the playoff round. They dropped their quarter-final matchup to finish at 2-2.

At the Senior Eliminations, the Red Sox had an excellent run here going 3-2 and advancing all the way to the Final 5 before dropping that game to a tough Ilderton Red Army club.

Milton will be returning the majority of their 2018 roster. The veteran club will be led by 2018 League MVP P-1B Jason Schneider (.373, 23 runs, 53 hits, 14 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 56 RBIs and on the mound 3-6, 79 2/3 innings, 76 hits, 63 runs, 40 earned runs, 68 strikeouts, 44 walks, 4.52 ERA).

In the field, other key returnees for the Red Sox include 3B/SS Kevin Greer (.317, 17 runs, 44 hits, six doubles, three doubles, 28 RBIs), OF Steve Lauzon (.319, 25 runs, 36 hits, a double, 11 RBIs), Brett Medland (.297, 38 runs, 44 hits, three doubles, 11 RBIs, 15 stolen bases), Kalen Winkler (.278, 18 runs, 37 hits, seven doubles, 14 RBIs), and Matt Lahn (.270, 17 runs, 30 hits, seven doubles, a home run, and 13 RBIs).

On the bump, Schneider will be joined by Chris Cloes (8-3, 83 2/3 innings, 101 hits, 59 runs, 31 earned runs, 45 strikeouts, 25 walks, 3.33 ERA) and long time league veteran Ian Zettle (6-6, 78 innings, 100 hits, 59 runs, 44 earned runs, 45 strikeouts, 24 walks, 5.08 ERA) in forming for the core of the Milton pitching rotation.

As with all teams the Red Sox have a few players who are not returning. LHP Brendan Ellingham along with SS Orion Katayama and OF Nick Zarzycki will not be returning to the club this season. Ellingham was 1-3 in six appearances on the mound. In 31 innings he allowed 16 earned runs while striking out nine and walking 16 with a 4.55 ERA.

Katayama batted .232 with 19 runs and 23 hits. The slick fielding shortstop had three doubles and a home run with 11 RBIs.

Zarzycki hit .140 in limited time in the Red Sox lineup with nine runs and nine hits. He had a pair of doubles along with two home runs and nine RBIs.

With the losses, the Milton club had some holes to fill and the management team was able to do that. The club has added six bodies for the upcoming season. Returning to the club is P-OF Justin Newbold, who played with East York of the GTBL last season. He makes the jump to Milton this year to help improve a great pitching core on the team.

Also added this year are: Shawn Chalmers (Bolton Brewers), Sean Jensen (Laurier University), Shawn Miller (Laurier University), P-OF Tyler MacKillop (Guelph Silvercreeks/Laurentian University) and C-OF Matt Ryan (Toronto).

Things look to be shaping up well for the Red Sox this year as they look like they will have a nice mix of youth as well as veteran leadership on their squad. Coach Moore will get to see what his team can do as they will open their COBA Major Baseball League season on Monday, May 6th as they will make the short trek to the chilly confines of the 9th Line to take on Greg Cranker and the Erindale Cardinals. Game time is slated for 7:30pm at Greg Cranker Field.