The Christiansburg High School baseball program is slowly going through a new chapter, and fourth year coach Dale Nelson will have the luxury of a lot of depth on the mound and some excellent defense behind that pitching this season.
The Blue Demons lost five starters from a team that finished 10-12 last year, but across the board, there is a lot of talent still in the barn.
Nelson, who s 40-25 in four seasons, said pitching and defense should be the team’s strength, especially with nine seniors returning to provide some leadership to a young roster.
The battery of Will Stout and Hunter Davis are back. Stout finished last season with a 2.40 earned run average along with 46 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched. Davis, the team’s all-everything behind the plate, returns after a .256 batting average.
Throw in Kevan Lambert, who plays outfield besides spending some time on the mound after 12 K’s in just 14 innings pitched last season.
Others that will see some time on the hill include: Zach Taft (1.60 ERA) and Zach Durham (11 K’s in 10 innings pitched last season). Of course, the two players will see most of their playing time in the outfield.
Utility player Ryan McFee is also back after being named all-conference second team and hitting .333.
Christiansburg will also get back the services of two players, Kyle Johnson and Chris Mathney, who were lost last season to injuries. Johnson, an infielder, was hitting .333 before a season-ending injury.
Nelson said the River Ridge District is always tough top to bottom, and the Blue Demons will have to be ready to play each and every day.
Eric Altizer, in his 12th season as Auburn’s head coach, enters the spring as the defending 1A state champion after losing 10 seniors including seven starters. Last year, the Eagles finished 24-2, but now they will look to reload.
He does return Dylan Akers (1st Team All-State as a utility player) who finished 10-2 last season with 63 K’s in 61 innings pitched. At the plate, he had a .411 batting average with 19 RBIs and 28 runs scored.
His teammate Keith Reed was 10-0 last season on the hill with 59 K’s in 59 innings pitched, being named second team all state as a pitcher. He also boasted a .354 average with 22 RBIs.
Altizer called his team a work in progress at the beginning as players take over new roles on the team. “Hopefully as we move into the district schedule we will begin to gel,” he said.
District play includes some new opponents in the Mt. Empire District such as George Wythe, Rural Retreat, Ft. Chiswell and Galax.
“Galax and George Wythe are the top Group 1A schools in our new district. Both are loaded with pitching. Grayson and Fort are both perennial contenders in the postseason and are 2A schools in our district,” Altizer said.
The story is a little different at Eastern Montgomery as second-year coach Jonathan Hagee returns seven starters to a team that finished 4-15.
“I think we will take another step forward. We should be deeper on the mound and have a deeper hitting lineup overall. We’ve been able to develop depth within the past year. We have a lot of starters coming back and some guys who got a lot of experience/AB’s last season even if they didn’t start every game. We’ve also added a really talented freshman this year from last year’s JV team (JT Foster) that will add a lot to our lineup.,” Hagee said.
Five players to watch at Eastern Montgomery are Aaron Felty, Hunter Justus, Zach Sledd, Vance Garren and Logan Kingery.
Felty, a .288 average last season, will play shortstop and is slated to be the team’s number one pitcher in the rotation. Justus, a .295 BA last season, will play outfield and the corner infield spots. He is also fingered to be the teams number three starter.
Sledd will play shortstop and centerfield and be the team’s leadoff hitter. He will also see some time on the mound. Garren returns after hitting for a .278 clip last season. He is expected to play second and also spend time on the hill. Kingery is the team’s every day catcher.
“We were competitive in a lot of games last season, I expect us to turn some of those close losses into wins this season. I really like our team chemistry and the makeup of our roster, as a whole our program is really excited about this season and the future,” Hagee said.
Greg Ridpath is in his third season at the helm of the Radford baseball team and hopes his team’s hitting can catch up to the pitching side of the lineup this season. Last year, the Bobcats finished 12-8-1 and will have to replace six starters.
“We are inexperienced but if pitching staff can come up big we have a shot to be pretty good,” the Bobcat coach said.
The returning starters include: Eric Burdette (designated hitter), Conner Phillips (infielder), Justice Marshall (catcher), Chance Morris (pitcher) and Romet Bonnet (centerfield).
Burdette serves as an inspiration to his teammates as he is in remission from Hodgkin’s lymphoma. They wore purple uniforms this past Monday for their first game against Galax to honor his and other’s battle with the disease.
Radford will also get the services of Elijah Duncan, a football player who did not play baseball last season. He is expected to start in the outfield.
Eric Morgan is also in his third-year coaching at Blacksburg. Last season, the Bruins finished 4-14 and lost six starters. This year, there should be a lot of new faces in the lineup.
Despite the reloading, Morgan is optimistic.
“Younger players now have varsity experience after getting their feet wet last year. The team is becoming well-rounded and bonding together with pride. We should be very competitive and should have a fun successful season,” the coach said.
Returners with experience include: Hunter Radford who had a .357 average, Ryan Oosterhuis (.333 average), Colin Collver (.345 average), Craig Weaver (.326 average), Chris Wysocki (.250 average) and Wes McCoy (.269 average).
