On Jan. 28, the Clarke Central High School baseball team ends practice with a team scrimmage. The team is preparing for their upcoming scrimmage against North Oconee High School on Feb. 12 at CCHS. “When you move up a level in anything the competition gets tougher and it makes you become a better player,” junior and varsity pitcher Eli Parker said. Photo by Hannah Gale.
By HANNAH GALE – Writing Coach
The Clarke Central High School baseball team hopes to begin the season with a win against North Oconee High School.
Clarke Central High School’s baseball team’s head coach Trey Henson, has been coaching baseball at CCHS for the past six years. Henson and the team are hoping for a successful season after having five seniors and key players graduate in 2015.
“I hope to come out and have everyone on the team be improved, bigger, faster, stronger, a little bit more aware of the game and what to do in every situation in the game, just a larger knowledge of the game,” Henson said.
Junior and varsity pitcher Eli Parker has the same hopes for the season as Henson, but because this is Parker’s first year on varsity, he also has some personal goals of his own.
“I want to be the best player I can be. I want to help to team win. I’ll do whatever is in the best interest of the team,” Parker said.
The CCHS baseball team lost five seniors last year, but according to Coach Henson, juniors Cole Melancon and Jecorrah Arnold and seniors Trip Thompson, Noah Fairbairn and Garrett Holland have stepped up.
“This season will be tough, but baseball is never easy,” Parker said. “We lost some really good players from last year, but we’ve got a lot of players with a lot of potential. It will be interesting for sure.”
To make up for the loss of seniors, Coach Henson created a rigorous practice and workout schedule to prepare the team for the season.
“We practice six days a week,” Henson said. “We start practice around 3:45 to about 7 is a typical day depending on if we scrimmage that day or intersquad.”
The baseball team is hoping to start off the season with a win in their exhibition against North Oconee High School on Feb. 12 at CCHS.
“We have a lot of slots to fill. It also hurts to lose that much experience, but we have a lot of guys ready to step in,” Parker said.
