Back on the field

Clarke Central High School varsity baseball team shortstop and pitcher Will DeMent, a junior, practices on Jan. 28, 2020 at the CCHS baseball field. With the 2021 season beginning, DeMent believes that practice has been very productive for the team so far. “We’ve had a lot of energy out there (at practice), and everyone has been going out there to try to get better each and every day. I think there’s been a lot of positive things so far, and I think we’ve gotten better as practice has gone on,” DeMent said. “All the coaches have done a very good job of covering everything we need to cover before the game starts. We’ve covered everything from fielding to hitting. We’ve actually done a lot of base running.” Photo by Isabella Johnson

The Clarke Central High School varsity baseball team kicked off the 2021 season with a doubleheader at home against Oglethorpe County High School on Feb. 17, winning their first game 5-0 and their second 2-0. On Feb. 20, the team played at Athens Christian School losing 2-13 in their third game of the season.

After all spring sports for the 2020 season were shut down due to COVID-19, CCHS varsity baseball head coach Nicholas Wegmann has been working to prepare his team to play again.

“We’ve really been emphasizing getting our pitchers ready, trying to build up their pitch counts, and obviously (this) first week we have five or six games, so we’re really going to be throwing a lot of pitchers,” Wegmann said. “We’ve had one or two days to where we’ve actually had them throwing to hitters, and so not only (are we) able to get the pitchers arms ready, but we’re able to get the hitters to see live pitching since a lot of them probably haven’t seen it since we got shut down last year. “

With this being his first year as head coach, Wegmann feels that it is important to emphasize that players should have a game mindset in all situations.

“The main thing that I’m trying to get our kids to do is to treat every situation like it’s a game, and that goes for anything that you do in practice. If you’re hitting off a tee in the cage, visualizing a pitch coming to you, and treating it just as (if) you were in the batter’s box, or if you’re throwing a bullpen, maybe you’re imagining the hitters in there and you’re working off counts. That goes as far as into the weight room as well,” Wegmann said. “Your intensity level should never change from whatever you’re doing. You always need to treat it like you’re in a game.”

“Your intensity level should never change from whatever you’re doing. You always need to treat it like you’re in a game.”

— Nicholas Wegmann,
CCHS varsity baseball head coach

Shortstop and pitcher Will DeMent, a junior, believes that this year’s team works well together and has great potential.

“Some (of) our biggest strengths is (that) a lot of us have played together since we were little at Athens Little League. So we’ve all kind of known each other for a long time, and we’ve been playing baseball with each other for a long time,” DeMent said. “For offensive production, we got a very good combination of speed and power, and so I think that’s very, very good. Then we got a lot of talented infielders and outfielders. We also have a very talented pitching staff this year, so I think we’re looking pretty solid on all three phases of the game.”

While middle infielder Hayes Perno, a junior, believes that the team can go far this season, he feels that COVID-19 could cause problems.

“As far as the team goes, I think we got a good chance to make the playoffs. It’s really tough with COVID, but we have the guys to do it, and we got all the other tools,” Perno said. “We are always having to wear masks and earlier, about two or three weeks ago, we were shut down for two weeks because someone tested positive, so it’s just tough. You can’t really do anything about it. You can’t control it.”

Even with the team’s COVID-19 concerns, DeMent is appreciative of the season and is excited to get started.

“I’m super thankful that we get to play this year because last year we got shut down. So you sort of appreciate everything more. I think we are all very excited for the first games and to get this up and going,” DeMent said. “(We have to)take a day-by-day approach and in practice, whether it’s getting better every day or, for playing a game, just take it one game at a time, one at bat at a time and try to win as many baseball games as we can.”

The CCHS varsity baseball team will play a doubleheader at Prince Avenue Christian School on Feb. 22 at 5 p.m.

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