Baseball team hopes experience pays off

Pioneer baseball coach J.W. Holt and his staff had the task of reloading their squad this week.

The Pioneers, who lost just two players to graduation from the 2007 club, held tryouts Tuesday and Wednesday at the Patrick Ramsey Complex, with 34 players vying for spots on a roster which was to be narrowed down to around 25 for next spring?s team.

?I?m pretty happy with the core of young kids we ended up with,? Holt said Thursday. ?The overall numbers weren?t as high as I would?ve liked; ideally you?d like to have around 50 be interested in trying for the team. But we?ve got a pretty strong group who will be working with us to get ready for next season.

?Our experience level?s going to be pretty good,? Holt added. ?We had a lot of younger guys this spring who will come back with a year of varsity play under their belts, and I wouldn?t be surprised to see that a couple of these sophomores were able to step up and help us next year, too. And you never know about the freshmen. Some of those guys may be able to come right in and compete for a spot in the lineup.?

Tuesday?s opening day of tryouts consisted largely of judging prospects? arm strength and running speed, as well as a round of batting practice. On Wednesday afternoon, Holt and the Pioneer coaching staff put the players through a lengthy round of intrasquad play, followed by one last round of infield practice.

?We wanted to see how they would react in a live situation,? he said of the intrasquad play, ?and that gave us a chance to see what they know now, as far as situations, and what they need to learn.

?Having a middle school program that uses a lot of the same terminology and philosophy as the high school program is starting to really help us more and more. You could tell, watching the younger guys who played for coach (Brent) Whitlock last year, that they have strong fundamentals and knowledge of game situations. Now that they?re at this level, we can work on the finer points of the game, instead of having to start from scratch with them.?

For players who aren?t already involved with Babe Ruth or other summer leagues, Holt said a busy early summer schedule is planned, with the Pioneers competing in around 25 games between next week and early July.