Trojans ready to start season

By Jason Avery

News-Times Staff

PARKERS CHAPEL - The last time Parkers Chapel played in the state tournament, it was in the 2A semifinals back in 2014.

However, with a deep senior class and a burgeoning group of budding underclassmen, the Trojans stand to rank among the top teams in the 2A ranks.

For Mark Looney, who is entering his 20th season as the Trojans' head coach, having plenty of seniors to count on is something he hasn't had in recent seasons.

“For the first time in three years, I finally have more than just two seniors on the team,” Looney said. “We have six seniors on the team, five of which will probably be in the starting lineup. We’ve got a lot of starters back from last year. We definitely have some depth that we’ve not had the last couple of years that I can count on and go to if need be.”

Looney is also excited to welcome in a freshman class that has the chance to make an immediate impact.

“It’s a good freshman class,” Looney said. “It’s one of the better classes that I’ve had, certainly within the last couple of years. There’s seven or eight total that’s playing, and there’s two or three that have played a lot of travel ball, so they know how the game should be played, but they're just trying to learn how I like things to happen around here.”

The Trojans have missed the state tournament in each of the last two years, falling agonizingly short a year ago when Murfreesboro ended Parkers Chapel's season with an extra-innings win at the regional tournament.

Missing the state tournament is something the Trojans aren't accustomed to, and Looney said his team is aiming to change that.

“They’ve been disappointed, and I’ve been disappointed,” Looney said. “Entering my 20th year, we’ve had some down cycles, but for the last couple of years, it’s been a little bit of a sour taste of not making it to the state tournament, because obviously that’s our goal every year, and we got so close last year. We had a fairly decent season last year winning 20 games with a young bunch.

"Everybody in 2A last year was pretty senior-heavy, especially the way the tournament panned out. The ones that made it to the second or third round, other than Woodlawn, everybody had a lot of seniors. We had two.

"We just didn’t get the job done in extra innings against Murfreesboro, who made it to the semifinals on our own field. They know that we haven’t played to the standards of baseball for the last two years.

"The only state tournament these seniors have been to was when they were freshmen, and none of them were starters. I think they’ve taken it upon themselves to not only get back to the state tournament, but to make a run at this thing.”

The Trojans have plenty of experience returning to the infield.

Senior Reece Griffin is scheduled to return to first base, although his start could be delayed due to his commitment to the basketball team. With Griffin out, sophomore Michael Brotherton has gotten work at first base, and Looney said he has been pleased with the sophomore's transition from the outfield to the infield.

Freshman Tyler Martin has also gotten practice time at first base.

Senior Logan Selman (.385 BA, 0 HR, 15 RBI) returns to play second base with sophomore Thomas Hardy and junior Carson Worthey also in the mix.

Senior Trace Blaylock returns to shortstop with sophomore T.J. Bale also expected to see action there as well.

Bale (.370 BA, 0 HR, 18 RBI, 15 SB) stepped right into the Trojans' leadoff spot and had a terrific freshman season, and he will be counted on to be an offensive catalyst for the Trojans at third base.

At catcher, senior Tyler Sanders, freshman Jordan Arrington and senior Jacob Hobbs are all vying for the starting job.

The outfield has a vacancy due to Dezmon Jackson (.347 BA, 0 HR, 12 RBI, 35 SB) electing not to play baseball so that he can focus on preparing for his first season of college football.

“We’re going to miss his speed, his base-stealing ability and his defense in the outfield,” Looney said. “We’re definitely going to miss those aspects of his game, but it just gives another younger guy a chance to step in.”

Although Jackson won't be returning, the Trojans have several options.

Worthey (.398 BA, 1 HR, 39 RBI, 13 SB) will be in center field, and he will also be a key figure in the heart of the Trojans' lineup. Left field and right field have several candidates, including freshman Blake Wells, Hobbs, Brotherton and Hardy.

“Those guys can cover some ground and take a lot of hits away,” Looney said. “I’m real comfortable with those guys. Even some of the freshmen can fill in and I would be comfortable with them.”

One area that should be a great strength for the Trojans is on the mound.

Although Parkers Chapel won't have the services of departed senior Reagan Cates, the Trojans have the bulk of their staff back.

Bale (6-2, 2.97 ERA) finished last year as the Trojans' No. 2 starter, and Looney will be counting on him to build off of an impressive freshman season.

Selman (4-0, 3.06 ERA) and Griffin (2-4, 3.46 ERA) also were factors in the rotation, but the Trojans' depth should be a plus with Worthey and Wells also in the mix.

A left-hander, Wells has been outstanding when the Trojans have scrimmaged.

“In our live scrimmages, we’re not doing much against him, so if we’re not doing much against him, some of these other teams aren’t going to do much against him either,” Looney said.

Worthey hasn't pitched much due to an injury he suffered two years ago, including just 3 2/3 innings last year, but Looney believes he is ready.

“He is now more than a year-and-a-half removed from his elbow surgery where he separated his growth plate in his elbow,” Looney said. “Last year, Carson didn’t get to throw very much because of the amount of time recovering from surgery, and we really didn’t need him to pitch that much, so we kind of put that on the shelf. Now he’s the hardest thrower I have. He’s got a good curveball, and he’s working on a slider and his changeup. He just needs to get some innings.”

Martin, Hobbs and sophomore Grayson Hurst all can provide solid depth to the staff.

Although Looney said he has enjoyed getting ready for the season, he is eager to see his team in action, particularly with the new combined districts schools across the state will be competing in.

“It’s been fun. We’ve had some really good practices. We’ve made a lot of progress, but it’s time for us to start our season,” Looney said. “The season is going to be interesting because everything is new. It’s a new district. It’s a new regional. They’re only going to take 12 to state because there’s only three regions, so there will be four teams that get byes, and you only have to win two games to get to Fayetteville.

"Some of our old rivals are no longer in our classification for this year and at least next year, but I’m sure we’ll create new rivals before this year and next year is over with. There will be new people that we have to beat to get to our final destination, and we’re looking forward to it. With that being said, we’re still playing Junction, Woodlawn and Smackover. Even though they aren’t in our classification, I still want to keep playing them because they’re good programs, and I know playing teams like that will make us better.”

As far as the conference is concerned, Looney will be keeping close tabs on Spring Hill and Harmony Grove.

“At the end of the day, the conference games against the 1A schools don’t mean anything other than whether you won or lost the ballgame,” Looney said. “It has nothing to do with seeding. The other half of our conference games against Lafayette County, Spring Hill and Harmony Grove mean a lot because those count towards seeding for our postseason.

"We’re playing Bearden and Rison home and away to get our seeding one through six. We know Spring Hill has got a good, quality club. We’ve been playing them for a long, long time. They lost only two or three starters off of last year’s club, and they’re senior-heavy.

"Harmony Grove has got everybody back, and they’ve got 11 or 12 seniors, so that’s going to be great competition with those two teams right there. We’ve got a tough schedule, and we’re going to play as many games as we can to get better. My only concern is to be a better baseball team 2 1/2 months from now than we are today.”

If the Trojans are return to their status as one of 2A's top teams, Looney said the seniors must lead the charge.

“I’ve got to have the senior class lead us,” Looney said. “We have some really great underclassmen players, but I need this senior class. We finally have a nucleus of a senior class that has had some quality playing time under their belt as a group. It’s just important each year to have three, four or five seniors to help lead the ballclub, but I need some of these younger guys to step up and play older than what they are.

"We need to play good defense. We’ve got to have our pitchers throw strikes. We’ve just got to play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. It doesn’t matter who our opponent is, you are competing against the game itself because all of these situations are going to arise. Now, are we going to be prepared to make the plays when they happen? That’s our approach this year. That’s what I’ve been preaching to these guys.

"We’ve been trying to rep every possible scenario that could pop up in the game of baseball. We’ve spent a lot of time working on defense. We’ve spent a lot of time in the bullpen. I feel like we’re going to be pretty solid one through nine hitting. If all of those things come together, we should have a great year.”

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