Covering the Bases with Coach Moncrief
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
A Baseball Preview
Head Coach Brad Moncrief is entering his third year as the varsity baseball coach, Joey Hill joins him as the assistant coach for the second time. Jimmy Brownell joined the team as an assistant coach this past summer, he will continue that role this spring. The players and coaches are focusing on building a successful season. This is what Coach Moncrief had to say about the upcoming season:
Smith: How are practices going?
Moncrief: Practices are going great. We’ve only had to have two practices inside, because we have this awesome turf field. We’re pretty fortunate, we get to practice about every day outside. So, yeah, everything’s going really good, the boys seem focused and getting a lot of swings in, a lot of good defensive reps, going over situations, and the pitching looks real good. That’s probably going to be our super strong suit this year.
Smith: What are you looking for from your pitchers?
Moncrief: I think we definitely have three quality starters. I don’t know that we have that closer guy, but we have a lot of middle-closer-relief that we can use. So, yeah, I mean we’re looking at 10 different pitchers, and about six deep on varsity. The other four are JV right now, but they have a really good chance of getting better throughout the season. We have Connor Smith coming back, senior, definitely one of the starters, he’s been our #1 for the last couple of years. Right under him is a kid that moved in, Gage Brownell, he throws hard, he’s definitely going to be a very, very strong starter, he is a sophomore. Then, Elliott Sevits, he’s a junior. When he was a freshman he came in and played all kinds of different roles, closer roles, middle relief roles, starting roles, so he’s done all three phases, I expect him to do good things. He’s got a good mind when he gets on that mound, whether bases are loaded or whether we’re up by six or seven runs. Kale Windy looks really sharp this year, he is going to be that guy that we bring in for tight situations, and he is going to start some games for us. He is going to be the primary catcher, but he will also pitch and play some middle infield for us this season.
Smith: What does your schedule look like this year?
Moncrief: Our schedule kinda starts out decently tough, we’re going to start out with Canton, so they’ve been our rivals in a couple sports, basketball and baseball. Baseball they beat us in districts last year, I mean, it was a tight game. So we start out with them, all of these games in the first couple weeks in the season are just to see where you’re at. We all know that during the middle of the season, and then towards the districts things change, teams get better, pitching gets better, hitting gets better. So, it will definitely change then, overall, from top to bottom, the schedule is pretty solid I think.
Smith: The game you just mentioned versus Canton was added to the schedule, it was not on the original schedule. Why was that game added? Was it to feel them out for districts?
Moncrief: No, we just thought, you know, playing games is the best practice. You can practice so much, but we need to get more games. We were trying to get 3-5 more games in our schedule. That was why that was done, so we can start a little earlier. This year we’re going to have a Maroon and Gold game the week before our first game. I think it is kinda cool to do that, we did it during the summer, and it just kinda gives the kids something to compete against each other, but yet see where they are individually. It lets us know as coaches where some of them are at and what we need to do to get ready for our first game of the season.
Smith: Let’s talk about the lineup. Who’s back? Who’s new? Anyone standing out or stepping up?
Moncrief: Back this season is Connor, Elliott, Kale, and we had some younger ones, like Lathan Martin, I see some great potential. Cohan Meade is going to give us some good, strong innings. Brody Weaver is in that mix, but probably the biggest addition is Gage. He’s been a pitcher, he loves to pitch, he loves to pitch like Connor does. He’s just got a lot of ability, he’s got good stuff. He’s pretty tough on the mound, he’s got a good baseball mind.
Smith: What about your class of freshmen?
Moncrief: We’ve got three freshmen coming in- Casey Starrett, he looks good on the catch, we’ve got him catching a little bit right now. Getting him introduced. Preston Dabney is another one. Logan Vincent is also joining the team.
Smith: Okay Coach, let’s talk about team or personal goals for the season.
Moncrief: First of all, our goal is to win the district championship for sure. We’ve got the team to do it. We have the talent, we have the boys, and up and down we can be really dangerous. I think our team needs to be way better hitters. That’s what we struggled with last year, but it’s crazy, because right now things that we did last year in our baseball program are working. And hitting, it started this summer, confidence is building, their approach is a lot different. I see a lot of great things already in practice with what they are doing.
Smith: Hitting has been a struggle for them, but they did improve over the summer, so are they just continuing on from there?
Moncrief: Definitely continuing on, they look better. You know, live hitting is a little different structure, we need to get a bit of that going. I want to set a team goal, I’d like to see the team hit around .350. If we hit around .350 then good things are to really happen this year.
Smith: What has been the key to unlocking this hitting change?
Moncrief: This summer. I think this summer really helped. I just saw some different individuals really turning it up, building confidence. We’re doing a few different things with some of them. But I think confidence was lacking, and now I think they got over that hump.
2023-24 Varsity Baseball Schedule
March 15- @ Canton
March 18- vs. Clark County
March 22- vs. Northeast (Cairo)
March 25- @ Scotland
March 26- vs. Novinger
March 28- vs. Green City
April 1- @ Harrisburg
April 2- @ North Shelby
April 4- vs. Fayette
April 9-DH vs. Marceline 4:30
vs. La Plata 6:00
April 11- vs. Knox County
April 15- @ Salisbury
April 16- @ Atlanta
April 18- vs. Paris with Faith Walk
April 22- vs. Scotland County
April 23- @ Putnam County
April 25- @ Green City
April 29- vs. Kirksville (JV)
April 30- @ Westran
May 2- vs. Milan
May 7 @ Brashear
Note: All games start at 5:00 pm unless otherwise stated.
