YOUTH MOVEMENT: Several new faces on 2003 WCHS baseball team
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With what head coach Jimmy Walker described as the youngest team he’s coached in 16 years, Warren County will field a mix of young players and a few proven veterans as they venture into a tough District 7-AAA field.
“We’re going to be dealing with a lot of inexperience, and a lot of young players,” Walker said Saturday during the team’s preseason play day at Manchester. “There are going to be some growing pains this year, but they’re a fun group to be around.
“They’ve worked hard, and they’ve got a clue about the game. So it’ll be fun to watch them grow.”
The influx of new young talent has pushed the Pioneers’ veterans to be more dedicated during preseason work, Walker added.
“We’re working toward our main goal — to get better,” he said. “We’re trying to find a good gel, and these younger guys coming in and stepping up has pushed our older guys. It’s friendly competition, and that’s a good thing for this team.”
The Pioneer pitching staff consists of two seniors — Cody Mitchell and projected closer Colby Jenkins — one junior and several sophomores and freshmen who will likely all see action during the upcoming season.
“It’s pretty much a young staff, and we’re looking at everyone getting enough innings to gain some experience,” Walker said. “They’re going to be young, they’re going to make mistakes, but it’s a good core.”
That pitching staff will be backed up by a defense that Walker said has improved compared to recent seasons.
“Our Achilles’ heel the last three or four years has been defense,” he said. “In the games we made two errors or less we played an .850 winning percentage; in games with three or more errors we were under .500.
“You want to put a lot of emphasis on (defense), but sometimes I think you can put too much emphasis on it. So right now we’re working on confidence with this team, and self-esteem, and trying to gain experience without sweating the little things.”
Offensively, Walker said this year’s Pioneers will rely more on manufacturing runs that a power-packed batting lineup.
“We get to play small-ball this year a lot,” he said. “I think we’ve got probably the best team speed we’ve ever had.
“We’ve got guys that can run, and guys that can steal and bunt, and help us manufacture runs. We’re not showing everything we’ve got early, we don’t want to give anything away, but as the year progresses, it’s going to be fun.”
Although the season hasn’t officially begun, WCHS has already dealt with its fair share of injury and illness problems, most notably a case of mononucleosis that has sidelined senior outfielder Glenn Rogers.
“I really hate it for Glenn right now,” Walker said of Rogers’ the team’s most powerful hitter and last year’s home run leader. “He really, really worked hard this winter, and had even gained about 30 pounds before he got sick. He’ll be weak for a while, but we’re hoping we can get him back in two or three weeks.”
“We’ve got some more kids with banged-up backs, and a couple of arm problems, but the positive thing is they can all hopefully be back in a couple of weeks.”
The Pioneers open their season Monday, March 10, against Tullahoma.