BERNE — The Berne-Knox-Westerlo baseball team is looking to compete for a division title this spring.

BKW Coach Jeff Teats and his Bulldogs want to be competitive in the Southern Division of the Western Athletic Conference.
"We expect to compete for the division title," the coach said. "We have lots of good players."

The Bulldogs have three seniors on the 12-player roster.

Jeremy Mann is in his third year on the varsity team and will continue to be a key player. He was a first-team Western Athletic Conference Southern Division all-star as an outfielder last year. He also pitches for the Bulldogs.
"He batted .411 and won two games last year," Teats said. "He’s a lefty. He’ll be one of the important pieces for us."

Rick Ragone returns to play first base for the Bulldogs.
"He batted .289 last year and we’re hoping he improves on that," Teats said.

The third senior on the team, Ben Hallenbeck, is a newcomer to the varsity and will be in the outfield.

Four juniors return and look to make major contributions.

Jayson Villeneuve will man the outfield for the Bulldogs this season. Rich Geist will be the team’s catcher after missing most of last season with an injury.
"He got hurt in the second game last year," Teats said. "Hopefully, he’ll stay healthy."

Bob Patrick will return to pitch and play in the outfield.
"He batted .420 last year," Teats said. "He was named a first-team pitcher in the Southern Division and won three games for us."

Zack Davis transferred back to BKW after being away for a couple of years.

"Ready and competitive"

The Bulldogs have five sophomores who have some experience.

Ben Burton will play at second base and pitch some this spring. Greg Mulson, who Teats called a good hitter, will play in the infield and could pitch a little as well.

Matt Lounsbury will be at third base and pitch some. Josh Skinner will play at shortstop and pitch for the Bulldogs.
"He’ll be our number three," Teats said of Skinner. "Bobby and Jeremy are my number-one and two but I’m not sure how that’s going to work out yet."

Jeremy Springer will also man the outfield and will be the back-up catcher for BKW this season.

The sophomores are a part of a talented group of athletes.
"This group last year played on the junior varsity for half the season," Teats said. "They got a good amount of playing time. The only inexperience they have is because they only played on the varsity for half of the season."

Teats said he is looking forward to getting out on the field for games, which could start this week. The Bulldogs were scheduled to play Voorheesville on Wednesday. Then BKW, plays at Greenwich on Saturday and Fort Plain in a non-league game on Monday. The Bulldogs first league game is scheduled for April 6 at Schoharie.
"I’m really excited about the season," Teats said. "We’ve had good-enough early spring practices in the gym on a daily basis that we should be ready and competitive."