Area baseball preview: Plum City Blue Devils

2010 record: 8-15 (6-7 Dunn-St. Croix)

Key returning players: Kris Krueger, Jake Gilles, Matt Heath and Chad Fox

With only 15 Plum City students in grades 9 through 12 playing baseball this spring, depth is a concern for first-year Blue Devils coach Kevin Mueller.

"We really need to stay healthy," he said.

Mueller succeeds Zach Watkins as coach after serving as Watkins' assistant a year ago. Mueller also served as an assistant coach at Spring Valley for five years in the 1990s.

He said that it will be important for Plum City to play a team brand of baseball, especially early in the season, and Mueller indicated that shouldn't be much of a problem.

"We have a bunch of kids that really like each other," said Mueller, adding, "They enjoy playing the game and they have fun doing it."

Junior Chase Luebker has elected not to play baseball this spring. The Republican Eagle named him to its all-area honorable mention team a season ago.

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