Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
Last summer, Greg Harrison brought back the El Dorado Oilers to the baseball diamond after an absence of two decades.
Now the second phase of Harrison’s vision is about to come to fruition with the El Dorado Drillers, a junior American Legion club that will be making its debut this summer.
After coaching the Oilers last year, Harrison is in charge of the Drillers, and he is pleased with his squad’s flexibility.
“A lot of them can play multiple positions,” Harrison said. “Many of them are really good athletes that can play either infield or outfield, and many of them can pitch. Whenever you have players that can play multiple positions, it gives you more of an opportunity of getting them into the game.
“That’s what we want to try and do. If we have certain players that are used to playing one position, if they’re willing to play another position and they get experience there, it makes them more of an asset to their coaches.”
The roster has a distinct El Dorado fervor with 15 players on the roster, including several that got their feet wet at the varsity level during the Wildcats’ recently completed campaign.
“El Dorado has 19 players that are freshmen and sophomores, and a lot of those young men are looking for an opportunity to play,” Harrison said.
“Coach (Sam) Tyler’s focus was really trying to keep the core together so they could work together and get better.”
In addition to the contingent from El Dorado, Parkers Chapel has a trio of players to round out the roster, and Harrison said finding playing time for everyone will not be an issue.
“With a full roster, everybody is going to have an opportunity of getting considerable playing time,” Harrison said.
“We have a minimum of 29 games and depending on how tournaments go, we’re looking at playing into the mid-30s.
“I think the biggest hurdle I’ve had as far as relating to the players whenever it comes to the schedule and playing time is most of our games are doubleheaders, but they are not a varsity and a JV.
“The second game is just as important as the first. That was a hurdle that we saw last year where some players were upset that they weren’t in the lineup for the first game of the doubleheader, but they were in the second.
“But if you’re getting between somewhere between seven to 10 innings over 14 innings, I feel that’s more than sufficient playing time when you’re playing with a roster between 14 and 18 players.
“There were times when we lost the first game, but won the second, and we were 1-1 for the day.
“It reflected on our record regardless, so getting over that hurdle and players understanding that when you have a roster of 18, there’s going to be times where everyone is going to have to sit on the bench, but there’s going to be other times where everyone will get considerable playing time.
“It’s always situational. Our job is to be quality motivators and let them know that it’s more of a situational thing. It has nothing to do with their capabilities.”
Harrison added that getting the team put together has been much smoother than what it was a year ago when he was putting the Oilers together.
“It is because we’re getting to know a lot of them,” Harrison said. “We spent a lot of time with the kids on the Oilers last year, so you get to know each other rather well. Knowing how the process goes, it’s been a whole lot smoother than what it was last year.
“The main thing is building that relationship between the player and the coach, but also being a positive mentor and influence to them as well.
“If each one of these players can find one or two tools they can take back to their high school team next year, then we’ve done something positive.
“If we can develop them or teach them an extra pitch or two they can take back to their high school team, they could pitch for their high school team.
“If we can share with them on how to be a quality individual and quality teammate, we’ve accomplished something there as well.”
The Drillers will open the 2016 season by taking on Magnolia at the Nashville 17U Tournament on Friday night.
Game time is set for 6 p.m.