Versatility on the field is a necessity in high school baseball given the number of two-way players who both pitch and play a position.
This is certainly no different for Parkers Chapel, but the Trojans have a host of players who can play a multitude of positions, which gives coach Mark Looney plenty of flexibility.
“We look to have a good year,” Looney said. “We should be pretty solid one through nine. We’re just going to have more depth. We’ve got more interchangeable parts.”
Parkers Chapel, which opens the season on Monday against Prescott in the Bearden Tournament, went 18-9 last year, but saw their season end in the regional tournament for the second straight year.
For Looney, the 2024 season is a transition year for his team.
“We’ve got seven starters back, and that’s always a good thing,” Looney said. “We’ve been a fairly young ballclub for the last two years, so now we’re transitioning from a young ballclub to a veteran ballclub.
“With that being said, we’ve only got a couple of seniors who have had any significant playing time going into this year.
“Even after this year is over with, we’ve still got a lot of kids coming back for next year. With years of experience and the age and getting older, you expect to be better and make a push when postseason gets here.”
The Trojans graduated two starters in Branson Bryant and Chris Greer and have only two seniors this year in Paytin Greene and Dylan Davies.
“When you’ve got seven starters back — unless somebody that’s a ninth-grader that’s exceptional — there’s not a lot of competition,” Looney said. “It’s just a matter of holding your ground and better a year a later.”
The Trojans have plenty of experience back on the infield with Greene and junior Chandler Boykin returning after sharing time at first base.
Hayden Primm, a junior who elected not to play last year, returns after starting at first base as a freshman.
Junior Timothy Rustin, who moved in from South Carolina, could see playing at the middle infield spots.
“He’s a middle infielder and he’s going to step in and get a lot of playing time,” Looney said.
Sophomore Kaine Greene could see playing time in the middle of the infield, and junior Dyson Dougan is back after a solid sophomore season at shortstop last year.
Boykin, who was limited by Tommy John surgery last year, also saw playing at third base.
JT Ingram returns after a solid freshman season, and he can play at several spots besides at catcher.
In the outfield, Looney said Davies will be limited after undergoing ACL surgery.
“We really don’t know how limited he’s going to be,” Looney said. “He’s recovering fast. His rehab is going well. He’s practiced.”
Caidyn Lewis, a junior who like Primm elected not play last year, returns to the team.
Junior Cameron Mayo is also back and can play at any spot.
“When I say he can play anywhere on the field, he can play anywhere on the field,” Looney said.
“He’s the best outfielder I have. If I could leave him in center field for every game, that would be nice, but I can’t.”
In addition to first base, Paytin Greene can play in right field or at catcher.
Like Mayo, junior Sy Fife can play all over the diamond, and the Trojans could get contributions from freshmen Sawyer Messer at third base and Caleb Childers either at first base or in the outfield.
The pitching staff returns intact with the exception of Greer, and Looney believes they can have a solid year.
“We’ve got our whole pitching staff back, a year older, a year stronger,” Looney said. “Their velocity and their command of the strike zone will be better just because of getting older. A lot of these guys have been playing and starting since the ninth grade.”
Dougan, Boykin, Ingram, Mayo, Fife and junior Owen Brown give the Trojans plenty of experience on the mound.
“JT is the hardest thrower we have,” Looney said. “Dougan ate up a lot of good innings and got better and better as the season went along. Mayo has looked good in bullpens. Owen Brown is a lefty that’s 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5, tall, lanky.
“If he learns how to command the strike zone, he can have a great year. He’s (Fife) a strike thrower.
“He’s not going to blow it by anybody, but he changes speeds and throws strikes and lets the defense help him out.”
While Looney said practices have been going well, he is anxious to see his team in a game setting.
“We’ll see how it all shakes down,” Looney said. “Practice is one thing and game time is another. It will shake down to whoever throws strikes, change speeds and get some outs.”
Although the Trojans have a veteran team, Looney said the competition in practices is something his squad hasn’t had in recent years.
“There will be some surprises,” Looney said. “There will be some guys that will step up that maybe I’m not looking at this point. We have a group of kids who are very versatile.
“When it’s all said and done, I’ve got to get my best nine hitters in the lineup.
“There’s a lot of competition. That’s the biggest thing. If I can say anything about the this year compared to the last two years, there’s a lot of competition for playing time on this team.
“There’s going to be some guys not in the starting lineup who are pretty good ballplayers.
“They have to keep working at practice and when they get an opportunity to show up and show out, as a coach that’s a good thing.
“We have a lot of competition for one through nine and that’s going to be a good thing for us when it’s all said and done.”
As far as the 8-2A is concerned, Looney said Woodlawn is the favorite to win the league.
“You always go with Woodlawn being the team to beat,” Looney said. “They lost their top three pitchers, but they always have kids to plug and play. They’ll have some new faces.
“Ouachita has six starters coming back from a team that finished second in the conference last year.
“Fordyce still has their 1-2 punch on the mound. I think we’ll be in the mix with where we finished last year and having all of the returning starters we have back.
“I think Junction City will be very, very much improved. They have a young freshman class. They have three or four legitimate starters they can put on the mound.
“Rison has got a new coach in Chad Cope. He was a one-man wrecking crew back in the day. He had some good years at Watson Chapel and he moved on to North Little Rock. Now he has come back home. He’s a good baseball coach. We’ve got a lot of good baseball coaches and tradition in the conference in the 8-2A. You can’t ever count out Gurdon. They have good athletes. It’s going to be fun.”
The Trojans have missed the state tournament in each of the last two years, and Looney said for his team to have success, it will start on the mound.
“For us, it all starts on the mound,” Looney said. “Basically, we have the same pitching staff that we’ve had for the last couple of years minus Chris Greer.
“We’ve been so young, and I just hope from the things that they’ve learned and the experience and their maturity that we get to the next level on the mound.
“I’m not really concerned about the velocity, I’m concerned about throwing strikes, working ahead, knowing what to throw and how to throw it in certain situations, always trying to stay one step ahead of the hitters.
“I think they’ve learned some of that. They know how important throwing strikes and not giving free bases are because walks and errors will get you beat. Our keys are to play clean defense, throw strikes, eliminate walks, try to stay one step ahead of the hitters.
“Offensively, I think we’re going to be solid one through nine. We can swing it. We’ve got some power up and down the lineup. We’re not home-run hitters, but we’ve got some gap-to-gap hitters.
“I’m really encouraged by what I’ve seen in practice, in the cage and on the field. We’ve got some guys that can swing it and spray it to all parts of the field.”