(Editor’s note: Following is the second in a two-part series previewing the Olean Oilers’ 2023 season: Today: a general preview focused on new coach Michael Beimel, a former Oilers catcher.)
On average, the Olean Oilers have fielded highly competitive teams since joining the NYCBL in 2012.
Olean has made the league’s championship series four times in nine played seasons, winning back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016. Last summer, in its return to the league after a two-year hiatus amid the pandemic, Olean made it all the way to the final day of the season before falling in heartbreak, dropping both games of a doubleheader in dramatic fashion in Cortland to lose a three-game championship series.
But that summer-ending disappointment came after another quality season for Olean, going 28-14.
And while many of the faces have changed in the dugout, from the players to the coaching staff, Olean hopes to maintain its high standards this summer.
Michael Beimel knows what it means to play for the Oilers, as a member of the 2018 and 2019 squads. Beimel’s teams made the championship in ‘18 and the wild card game in ‘19.
So a year after graduating from St. John Fisher, the St. Marys, Pa., native Beimel jumped at the opportunity to coach his former summer team.
“Just the culture. The winning culture,” Beimel said of what appealed to him about the coaching job. “Matt (Fidurko, director of operations) does a great job recruiting, he brings absolute studs to the team. So I love it here. Living on campus (at St. Bonaventure), living with the guys. It’s just a good experience.”
Olean debuts Monday in Dansville, playing the Gliders at 5 p.m., followed by a Wednesday doubleheader at the Syracuse Spartans. The Oilers welcome Dansville to Bradner Stadium Thursday morning (10:30 a.m.) for their home opener.
Beimel acknowledged it’s his first “legitimate” coaching job after spending time since graduation at his college coach’s PAC Baseball facility in Rochester helping young ballplayers. But he’s got two longtime Oilers assistants, third base coach Eric Hemphill and pitching coach John Dry, to rely on for experience, along with two new assistants, Cody Shimp and Hunter Stellato.
“It helps a lot, especially because you know two of the guys that have been here for a long time,” Beimel said of Dry and Hemphill’s experience. “They were coaching when I played, they know what it takes, they know the culture, they helped build the culture.”
Only a few days into preparing for the ‘23 season — the Oilers arrived on campus at St. Bonaventure on Sunday and started practice Monday — Beimel raved about the roster he’ll get to work with.
“They’re just studs,” Beimel said, repeating the phrase with a laugh. “Our sticks are going to be really good this year, I think we’re going to put up a lot of runs. Pitching, just lights-out. I just think overall we’ve got a really good group of guys.”
Beimel expects two returning Oilers, Toran Smith and Blaise Zeiders, to lead Olean at the plate.
“They’re both studs, studs at the plate,” Beimel said. “And I’m very glad that they’re returning this year. “I think our strongest (point) is just our sticks. I think we’re going to put up a lot of runs this year.”
Beimel also has the top end of his pitching rotation in mind.
“We’ve got a kid named Adam Martin (Framingham State College), he is a tall righty, he’ll be our No. 1. He is going to go Monday,” Beimel said. “And then we’ve got Ryan Johnson from Bellarmine University, also a stud, and then we’ve got a couple guys from Gannon (Matthew Graeber, Carson Whiteman) that are really good. So our starting rotation is pretty good.”
The Oilers’ bullpen will take shape once the coaches have seen their pitchers in game action, he added.
“The bullpen, that’s always a struggle. We haven’t really seen these guys throw all that much,” Beimel said. “So that’s one thing that we’ve got to figure out, but we can only figure it out in-game, how they compete in a game. So we haven’t really gotten there yet.”
On its current ‘23 roster, Olean has several area high school graduates, including Keuka sophomore pitcher Blake Frank (Franklinville), Pitt-Bradford junior pitcher Joe Long (Portville), Gannon junior pitcher Carson Whiteman (Kane, Pa.), St. John Fisher senior catcher Jake Meeker (St. Marys, Pa.) and Canisius College junior outfielder Cole Sebastian (Otto-Eldred).
Sebastian and Zeiders, both outfielders, were NYCBL all-star selections last summer.
“We have a few guys that are back, which is very helpful to me, because they understand what we’re looking for,” Beimel said. “So the guys can look up to the returners and kind of realize that we want to win.”
And how does a summer ball program build “culture” with so much turnover each year?
“Just letting them know that it’s summer ball, right? Obviously, development is a big thing, but we’re here to win,” he added. “We recruit some really good ballplayers from all over the country and right off the bat we tell them, ‘Yeah, everyone’s going to get playing time, everyone paid the same amount of money, but we’re here to win.’ So just telling them right off the bat that we take this seriously. We’re not doing this for the pay or whatever, we’re doing it because we love the game and we want to win.”
Beimel maintained that all players will see the field, but Olean will want to identify its best lineups before playoff time.
“As of now, we’ve just had practice, so we can kind of see the guys at a showcase standpoint, but when it comes to a game, it’s a different aspect,” Beimel said. “We want to see who the gamers are. The gritty guys, we want to see who can come up with a clutch hit, so just the game aspect of it.”
