Smackover is eager to open summer schedule

Jason Avery

News-Times Staff

Fresh off of winning 23 games and a share of the 8-3A title, Smackover will begin the process of beginning to formulate the 2017 squad by starting their American Legion schedule tonight with a doubleheader against Morrilton.

Game time is set from 5 p.m. from Norphlet.

For Smackover coach B.J. Greene, the summer is about development.

“Our goal going into the summer is to get kids better and get them ready to step up and play at the high school level next year,” Greene said. “Our goal is not necessarily wins and losses through the summer, it’s just to get kids more at-bats, ground balls and fly balls.”

Heading into next year, pitching should be a strength for the Bucks with Beau Burson and Weston Smith.

With the top two spots seemingly filled, Greene will be looking deeper into his roster to see who can make a case to pitch key innings next year, and he will get that chance thanks to Burson getting the opportunity to play elsewhere this summer.

“There’s no question,” Greene said. “Burson will not be playing with us because he was offered a chance to play at a lot higher level, and he needs that for his career and his future. That’s going to open the door for somebody else to play in his absence. We know what Weston is going to give us. That gives us an opportunity to go down further in our bullpen, and have kids that aren’t used to throwing that step up this summer. Those guys will be able to showcase what they can do.”

Perhaps the biggest hole the Bucks will have to replace is behind the plate with the graduation of Keiandre Purifoy, who is headed to Southern Arkansas to play both football and baseball.

“We’ve got a sophomore in Cade Schibler, who was the backup all year, and he going to get his shot before anybody else behind the plate,” Greene said.

“We have a couple of freshmen. One freshman that sticks out is Dawson Biggers that I may move and try to put back there.

“Another that has stepped up is Tyler Earnest. All of those guys are going to get looks, and that’s the big key. We’ll never replace Keiandre Purifoy behind the plate. There’s just no way, but we can use this summer to get ready for the high school season.”

Another development to watch will be to see how some of the Bucks’ outfielders progress.

Austin Jones, Tucker Evans and Nick Jennings will be counted on to grow into bigger roles next year, and Greene thinks the summer will be big for them.

“Those guys are the ones that the summer is going to be really good for,” Greene said.

“They hit low in the lineup, and they’re going to have to have bigger roles in the lineup next year at the high school level. This is going to give them the opportunity to be the guy that has to hit third or fourth in the lineup. It’s huge not only for their confidence, but it gives them more swings.”

With 18 players, Smackover has a huge freshman class coming in, and Greene said they will be playing this summer so the coaching staff can evaluate them.

“It allows us to see those guys for the first time and see if there’s a few of them that can step in and play as ninth-graders,” Greene said.

As far as the schedule goes, Smackover will face tough tests from Texarkana, Benton and Bryant among several others.

“People wonder why the Benton and Bryant areas have great baseball year in and year out, and it’s because they have enough kids to have six just junior teams in that area,” Greene said. “They’re doing the same thing we’re trying to do. In the long run, it’s going to play to our benefit because we’re playing really good competition.”

Greene is a veteran of American Legion competition, and he believes it will be a big benefit for Smackover.

“When I got to Heber Springs, the talent level was very low,” Greene said. “We had one kid that had any varsity level experience, and we won one game all summer in that first year. The next summer, we dropped to junior, and we competed. We were in the finals of our zone tournament in my second summer there. It gave us a tremendous boost.

“The next year, we finished in third place in our conference, and we had a chance for second. Our wins went up. We were above .500. Just the success that we had and the more time the kids get to spend together on the baseball field, I think it will help our program grow tremendously.”

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