Pioneers enter season with high hopes
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This year, the Pioneers know a return trip to the state tourney isn’t guaranteed. But the success of years past has risen the bar coach Charlie Hardee’s squad sets for itself.
“They expect it now,” Hardee said after the Pioneers’ 1-0 scrimmage victory over Crossville Monday night. “They expect to be not just mediocre.
“They want to be beyond what everybody else is, and to do that they’ll work hard. Sometimes they need a little motivation, but they don’t shy away from work at all.”
After losing a dozen seniors off last year’s team, the Pioneers return a mix of youth and experience to the field for the 2002 season, with 11 seniors, just three juniors, and a wealth of sophomores and freshmen.
“It’s totally different, last year’s crew compared to what we’re dealing with this year,” Hardee said. “You don’t have the same expectations.
“You want them to play as well, and accomplish as much as they’re capable of accomplishing. But I don’t expect us to get back, and that’s not my goal. They may set their goal as that, but my goals are to start playing and get the team going in the right direction. If we do that, then we let the other stuff fall into place.”
Most of the Pioneers’ experience comes on the defensive end of the field, a facet of their game Hardee said he has been concentrating on during preseason practices.
“We’ll be all right defensively,” he said. “Every team is going to make mistakes, but the team that makes the fewest mistakes, or covers up their mistakes better, is going to be the better team on the field. That’s what we’ve got to do.”
“You’ve got to score to win games, but if you don’t have a good defense you’re not going to win championships. We work really hard on our defense everyday, and quite honestly I’ve neglected the offense a little bit.
“You can see there’s some talent up there, but it’s really raw right now. But it’ll come along.”
One young talent that’s expected to play a key role on offense is sophomore Totsura Kusunoki, who saw significant action as a freshman last season.Phillip Walker has been moved up front to help solidify the team’s attackers, while sophomore Ben Gretzinger, junior Ryle Chastain, and freshman Oscar Rodriguez will be among those called on to provide the Pioneers’ scoring chances.
“With Totsura you’re going to get experience, and he’s a heck of a player,” Hardee said. “He’s been well-coached before I ever got him, I can’t take credit for that.
“The other ones don’t have his experience, but they will come along. Sometimes you can see the youth when they play, but as they go along, they’ll keep getting better.”
The Pioneers will have to continue to get better on both offense and defense to contend for another District 7-AAA title, as they’ll battle a league filled with strong teams all season.
“Cookeville is the team this year,” Hardee noted. “Their rec league team won the Division II state championship in TSSA this year, so they’ll be tough.
“Oakland will be tough, they’ve got almost everybody coming back. Riverdale is young, but they’ll be good, too, and Blackman is new, but they won’t have any scrubs, either.
“White County and Lebanon don’t have much in the way of feeder programs, so they have a hard time.”
The Pioneers’ season kicks off Monday, with a home match against Livingston Academy at 6 p.m. Chattanooga Christian comes to town Tuesday, with junior varsity action set for 5 p.m. and the varsity game to follow at 7 p.m.