GREEN BAY – One game is an extremely small sample size, but Bay Port baseball coach Mike Simoens is most certainly pleased in what his Pirates showed Thursday night in a 4-0 season-opening victory over West De Pere.

“Sean Grabig threw four shutout innings and looked really good,” Simoens said of the junior southpaw. “He’s got a decent fastball and a nice curve. He’s got three really good pitches and looked pretty good (Thursday) night.”

Grabig, a second-team All-Fox River Classic Conference pick last season, is the ace of the staff and will be counted on to lead the Pirates off a 14-8 season that ended in sectionals last season.

With the return every inning pitched last season, it will be an area of strength for the Pirates in the Fox River Classic Conference race. That race itself will test every last arm capable of throwing with an expanded 22-game conference schedule this season.

Grabig is also Bay Port’s leadoff hitter for an offense that didn’t shine too brightly on the cold, windy night in victory but did get a spark from senior outfield Josh Jaro in the form of a two-run home run.

“He hits for good power and into the gaps,” Simoens said. “He hits sixth or seventh for us. He hits the ball a long ways when he hits it, that’s for sure.”

The list of seniors on this team is long as it lost just one senior from a year ago and will start four juniors and five seniors that saw some time a year ago.

“We’re still young and a little inexperienced, but have the talent there,” Simoens said.

The Pirates, ranked No. 9 in the Division 1 Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association preseason poll, are picked by the coaches of the FRCC to finish first in this year’s Baseball Wisconsin yearbook. If last year is any indication, that designation doesn’t mean a thing as the predictions were all over the place with teams picked to finish toward the bottom, at the top of the standings.

With such a long conference season, four or five losses could be enough to take home the title.