District 7 ready for ‘arms’ race
The race for the District 7-AAA baseball title is usually very competitive.
And this year, according to WCHS coach Jimmy Walker, will be no different as a league packed with tough pitchers gets ready to do battle with a new scheduling system.
“We’ve never had this many arms in the district, as far as kids that can pump it up there,” Walker said. “Blackman, with David Price on the mound, can beat anybody, and Riverdale got a transfer in from Alabama that has already signed with Lipscomb.
“Oakland’s always good, and Sparta’s got two good kids, including Scotty Rogowski, who might get drafted. Lebanon’s got a really strong arm back in the Allison kid, and Cookeville’s going to be good with a new coach.
“So it’s going to be tough, and it’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out.”
When the teams in District 7 face off this year, they’ll do so under a new scheduling system which was voted in by coaches during off-season meetings.
Each team will play every district foe twice during the season, just as in years past. But this season, those two games will be played on consecutive days. For example, the Pioneers open district play march 18 at Oakland, then host Oakland on March 19.
Walker said the decision to rethink the district schedule was made to challenge teams’ depth — particularly among their starting pitchers.
“When a kid pitches eight out of his team’s 12 district games, there’s something wrong with the system,” Walker said. “Baseball is a game that’s meant to be played in series, and although I don’t necessarily agree to playing on Wednesday nights, that’s what was voted in so that’s what we’ll do.
“I like the idea of playing back to back, and I think we’ve got depth, but not the kind of depth where we’ve got a corps of kids that can go out there and throw a one-hitter. We’re hoping we can get into some bullpens.
“If we can do that and get into some slugfests, we’ve got a good chance, so we’re going to go out there and get it done.”