Davis High baseball coach Dan Ariola says it’s too early in the season to know where every piece of his Blue Devil diamond puzzle fits. But he knows one thing, for sure: “I like these kids.”

Coming off a 12-15 season at the end of which DHS finished third in the rugged Delta Valley Conference, Ariola is loving what he believes will be a deep pitching staff.

“Last year we were young on the mound, especially after Luke (McDonald) went down,” the veteran coach explained. “That’s what I like about this year … Ben Eckels, Jack Shelledy, Alec Miramontes, George (Hatamiya) and Chase (Hunt-Murray) are back. Now they’ve got a lot of experience.”

Kristian Mackewicz, a Blue Devil football and basketball player, is expected to pitch after the hardcourt season ends tonight.

“We have a lot of innings coming back,” Ariola added.

Throw in newcomers in junior Reinert Toft and sophomore Bobby Young, and Ariola almost has to pinch himself — eight deep for a prep pitching staff.

In 2010, the season-ending injury to shortstop/pitcher McDonald put DHS in a funk after just two games. Bo MacArthur picked up the slack and hit .424, scoring 34 runs and hitting two of the Devils’ four dingers.

Replacing those numbers will be a priority for Davis.

Enter Josh Cosio.

Ariola says his senior center fielder is the only lock after two weeks of workouts. Look for the speedy Cosio (.339 a year ago with 18 runs scored in an injury-plagued spring), to be flanked afield by a combination of Eckles, Hatamiya, Patric Kreidler, Miramontes and Dillon Johnson.

“I really like Eckels’ arm in right and he’s been doing well out there,” Ariola continues. “Kreidler had a bad arm last year and he appears healthy now.”

Johnson, who saw extended action as the 2010 season evolved, is out for at least two more weeks with a broken hand.

Chris Gnos, according to Ariola, “gives us great depth in the outfield, especially in left.”

Gnos is coming back from a summer knee injury.

At the corners, it looks like third base is Young’s to lose. At first, Ariola has some options, but for the moment Josh Merritt is getting the reps.

“Josh is my utility guy … he can play anywhere and has a good chance to be my first baseman,” the former DHS player Ariola continues. “But the guy that’s really come on is (Galen) Hoshovsky.”

Hoshovsky, a senior who saw action at third last season, had a terrific summer campaign and will open at shortstop. Ariola loves what he sees:

“It’s unbelievable how well he’s playing.”

Second base — the DHS Bermuda Triangle for the past couple of seasons — is again up for grabs with former junior varsity player Joe Murray and varsity returner Reid Hulsizer expected to compete with Ryan Plumb.

Murray hasn’t made an appearance at regular workouts — he’s playing JV basketball until after tonight.

So, with all those arms in place, what’s up with the catching corps?

Assistant coach Tom Turay — whose ex-Blue Devil son Mike is a backstop at Nevada Reno — works with the catchers and, at this point, has four guys to choose from.

Hatamiya (while only a junior is in his third year at the varsity level) is being asked to play yet another position, this time behind the plate. Hatamiya has been a second, third, outfield and will again pitch. Is he the answer at catcher?

“That’s our question right now,” Ariola says. “It’s what we’re trying to figure out. We need to solve that during this preseason time we have.”

Thrown into the mix will be sophomore Hayden Duer, junior Bob Lyon (whose brother Tom caught for the Devils last season) and Jacob Vanderbilt, another 11th-grader.

As a team, DHS hit .317 a year ago. That inexperienced pitching staff recorded a 4.92 earned run average. Ariola expects the ERA to come down. Should the batting average go up, the coach believes his guys will be tough once DVC play starts on April 1.

“I always tell people that Elk Grove is the team to beat,” Ariola says, looking ahead. “And Franklin is always good and Laguna Creek has a couple of big arms.

“With the bats? We’re OK there. We’re going to be competitive because we have experience. But we’re going to have to get our bunts down and run the bases. We’re happy with our offense, but remember it’s real early.”

Besides Turay, Ariola will be assisted by former UC Davis and DHS pitcher Scott Heinig, former Devils Brian Creely and Dan Cody and veteran coach Marc Hicks.

Davis opens the regular season March 4 at Clark Field against Woodland High. Vacaville comes to town for the Devils’ first home game on March 8 and Jesuit and DHS hook up at Raley Field for a 6:30 p.m. game on March 18.

Notes: Sac-Joaquin Section officials will take three teams from each of the DVC, Delta River League and Monticello Empire League — with one caveat. The two third-place teams with the lowest power rankings will stage a play-in game for the May 21-27 section tournament at American River College. … J. D. Davis (.483 in 2010) is expected to be a horse for The Thundering Herd. Davis was named to a handful of All-American teams last spring and is on several watch lists going into this spring.

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DHS shortstop Galen Hoshovsky fields a grounder. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise photo

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