Port Huron Northern baseball strives for communication, consistency with young roster

ST. CLAIR — This month has produced plenty of blowouts in high school baseball. Port Huron Northern is already familiar with both sides of that trend.

"We're pretty young," Northern coach Anthony Bloink said. "(Our play) needs to be more consistent. With time, in practice, we're going to form and find out where kids need to be. Those little things will work their way out as the season progresses."

The Huskies (1-1) opened play earlier this week. On Monday, they threw a combined no-hitter in a 16-2 win over Warren Mott in five innings. But on Wednesday, Northern struggled in a 16-1 loss to St. Clair that ended after four innings.

"One goal that I feel will be an ongoing process will be communicating between the players on the field," Bloink said. "And making sure that we're all on the same page pre-pitch and during action. It's the least worked on, I feel, from a coaching aspect because we're so worried about fundamentals and drills and what not."

While Wednesday's result was deflating, the Huskies know it was just the second game of a long season.

"Moving forward, we have a lot of pieces that are going to fit the puzzle that we're excited about," Bloink said. "Even though we start four to five sophomores, most of them have playing experience from when they were freshman.

"We're going to see a lot of progress out of those guys as the season progresses. A lot of them are going to be playing like a junior would be because of all the experience. That's going to help out as the season goes on."

Leading the Class of 2025 is catcher Ty Fletcher.

"He's going to be a name that you'll talk about for years to come," Bloink said. "Defensively, he checks all the boxes. He does everything right. It's just a matter of keeping his legs fresh as the season progresses, because he will carry the load catching wise."

Fletcher will also be a force offensively. In the victory over Mott, he hit 3-for-4 and had five RBIs.

"As a pure hitter goes, he probably has the best swing on our team," Bloink said. "And that says a lot, considering we have Alex (Armstrong) and Dylan (Bloink). If he's not the best, then he's a close second or third."

Another versatile sophomore is Taylor Falls.

"He's going to pitch quite a bit for us," coach Bloink said. "He's got a nice swing. We still haven't figured out where we're going to put him defensively."

That's the case with most of the second-years players. While Owen O'Connor and Nick Schrader will make some noise at the plate, the Huskies are still determining their best fit on the field.

"Defensively, we'll figure out where they're going to be come league (play)," Bloink said.

Northern's MAC Blue schedule begins Monday with a visit to Marysville (1-2). It's the first of three games against the Vikings next week.

As the deficit mounted against St. Clair Wednesday, Bloink noticed his players became less vocal. He understood why, given the situation. But he wants the Huskies to be conversing regardless of what's on the scoreboard.

"The communication piece (to the puzzle) will be ever-evolving," Bloink said. "The better we communicate with each other as a team, that'll pretty much dictate how the game is going to go. From there, it's just going to be consistency and making smart baseball plays."

Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.