NTL BASEBALL: TROY LOOKING TO DEFEND NTL TITLE IN 2025 (2025-03-17)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
Troy comes into the 2025 season as defending league champions, but are also motivated by their exit in the semifinals of the District IV playoffs a year ago.

“We’ve got a good group of kids out,” Troy coach Lyle Wesneski said. “We’ve got 22 kids this year, which is up some from last year, so numbers are good. We’ve got a really nice upperclassmen group - good leaders - and the work ethic is there, so we’re excited to get going.”

They return seven of nine starters from last year’s team, including ace Camden Allen.

“I’m excited to see how I do,” Allen said. “I added a few miles an hour, so we’ll have to see how that plays out. We have a new schedule, too, we bumped up (to Class AAA), so it’s going to be exciting.”

He’s been a starter since his freshman year, so Allen has plenty of experience with area hitters, and they have plenty of experience with him.

“You know who’s coming up, who’s good, so it helps you as a pitcher,” said Allen. “But it also helps them because they’ve seen you so many times.”

Allen threw 57 1/3-innings last year with a 2.20 ERA, and 63 strikeouts. They lost their number two pitcher, Camryn Harwick, but return Reed Palmer, who acted as their closer as a freshman.

Palmer pitched 23 2/3-innings with a 2.07 ERA.

“I’m really not nervous, but kind of anxious to see what I can as a starter this year,” Palmer said.

They relied heavily on three arms last year, but Wesneski feels they’ll be able to go a little deeper into the bullpen this spring as they look to get Brendan Gilliland, Mason Smith, Joseph Frye, and Frank Harper to pick up some of the slack.

“Who knows what’s going to happen with the weather,” said Wesneski. “We might get backed up some, and we’ve got to have a lot of arms, and be ready to go, and just throw strikes. Pound the strike zone, and play defense - the first month pitching and defense is going to win games.”

The plate, though, was Troy’s bread and butter a year ago, as they boasted a team average of .399, and 194-RBI.

Gilliland (.465) leads the returnees, followed by Palmer (.419), and Frye (.413). Mason Smith (.392), Lincoln Chimics (.373), and Allen (.312) also hit over .300 for the year.

“We just want to pick up right where we left off,” said Smith. “Just a lot of practice, a lot of swings in the cage.”

Base running is their forte, as they stole 79 bases out of 85 attempts last year, led by Gilliland’s 17-for-18 season.

“We do have a lot of speed on our team, and it’s definitely going to be to our advantage,” Smith said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Wesneski plans on using all that speed this season, too.

“I’m an old school guy, we do practice bunting a lot,” he said. “I believe in putting pressure on your opponent with our base running abilities, and small ball. Let our athleticism, and our speed put pressure on our opponent, and when that happens, usually good things are going to happen.”

The NTL Large School looks to be a gauntlet again this year, with Athens, Towanda, Wyalusing, NP-Mansfield, and Wellsboro all having reasons to be optimistic about the season.

“I told the kids, last year you kind of snuck up on people, they weren’t rally expecting you guys to do a whole lot, and you did,” said Wesneski. “That’s not going to be the case this year. You’re going to get everybody’s best every night of the week, and for you that’s a challenge that you’ve got to show up.”

As for district play, they’ll be in the always tough Class AAA bracket, but the team isn’t fazed.

“I’m excited to see what we can do against some of the new AAA teams,” Palmer said. “Hopefully we can do a little better than we did last year.”

ROSTER

Owen Campbell (9)

Lincoln Chimics (12)

Garrett Parks (9)

Trey Teribury (10)

Lucas Loxley (11)

Joseph Frye (12)

Evan Woodward (12)

Frank Harper (11)

Mason Smith (11)

Vinnie Colton (9)

Reed Palmer (10)

Camden Allen (12)

Logunn Heasley (10)

Alex Roupp (9)

Lexton Jackson (9)

Seth Feldmeier (10)

Parker Brown (9)

Brendan Gilliland (11)

Jack Burbage (12)

Logan Loxley (11)

Kayden Vogel (11)

SCHEDULE

Mar 18 vs Wellsboro, 4:30 p.m.

Mar 20 at Athens, 4:30 p.m.

Mar 25 at Wyalusing, 4:30 p.m.

Mar 27 vs NPM, 4:30 p.m.

April 1 at Towanda, 4:30 p.m.

April 3 vs Williamson, 4:30 p.m.

April 10 at Canton, 4:30 p.m.

April 15 at Wellsboro, 4:30 p.m.

April 16 vs South Williamsport, 4:30 p.m.

April 19 at Shamokin Tournament, 3 p.m.

April 24 vs Athens, 4:30 p.m.

April 29 vs Wyalusing, 4:30 p.m.

May 1 at NPM, 4:30 p.m.

May 2 vs St. John Neumann at Lycoming College, 4:30 p.m.

May 6 vs Towanda, 4:30 p.m.

May 8 at NEB, 4:30 p.m.

May 10 vs Canton (non-league), 10 a.m.

May 12 vs Sayre, 4:30 p.m.

May 14 at CV, 4:30 p.m.

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