Page 4 - TR Diamond Roundup March 2017

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SUNDAY, MARCH 19, 2017 | THREE RIVERS EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE BASEBALL & SOFTBALL REVIEW
JACKSONVILLE TITANS
Coach wants team to play hard, compete
BY MARK BUFFALO
STAFF WRITER
Longtime Jacksonville baseball coach
Larry Burrows said he isn’t a records guy when it comes to his team. He just wants his players to get better and do
things the right way.
A year ago, the former Red Devils — now
the Titans — finished 15-12 overall and 9-3 in the 5A Central behind Sylvan Hills. They lost to Greenbrier 7-4 in extra innings in the first round of the Class 5A State Tournament.
“We want to compete and play the game the right way,” Burrows said. “I’m not a record guy. I won’t know our record in two weeks. I’m not worried about winning or losing. I’m about playing the game the right way and competing and getting better every day.”
Burrows is being assisted this year by Bryan Eagle and Jace Melby.
The Titans return several starters this season.
Conference: 6A East
Coach: Larry Burrows
Assistant coaches: Bryan Eagle
and Jace Melby
2016 record: 15-12
Mascot: Titans
Returning starters: Kameron
Whitmore, Trent Toney, Caden Sample and Caleb Smith
Senior Kameron Whitmore played right field last year but is playing catcher this season. Senior Trent Toney played second base a year ago but is playing shortstop this year. Caden Sample returns as an outfielder and designated hitter. Senior Caleb Smith returns in left field.
Sample is the best returning hitter from a year ago, Burrows said. Sample hit .360 in 2016. Burrows added that Whitmore and Smith will also hit at the top of the lineup this season.
Burrows said his team doesn’t have a lot of
JACKSONVILLE TITANS
MARCH 23-25 ....@LR CATHOLIC TOURNAMENT MARCH 28 ................................SYLVAN HILLS MARCH 29 .......................... CROSSETT @OBU APRIL 4 ......................... @PULASKI ACADEMY APRIL 8 ............................@SILOAM SPRINGS APRIL 11 .................................. LR PARKVIEW APRIL 13 .................................. @BATESVILLE APRIL 18 ........................................ LR HALL* APRIL 20 .......................................... LONOKE APRIL 25 ................@LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN
*DENOTES CONFERENCE GAMES
power at the plate but that senior Joe Cummings has the most potential for pop in his bat.
Burrows said his best fielders are Toney at shortstop, senior Jordan Wickersham at third base and senior Quention Stallard at first base.
“Wickersham is reliable at third base, and Stallard is very good at first base,” Burrows said. Jacksonville’s best speed players are juniors
Gabe Helsley and DeBoious Cobbs.
“They will battle for the center-field spot,” Burrows said. He also said senior Jayden Loving has good speed, playing either second
base or outfield.
As far as pitching, Burrows said, his team
lacks experience. His returning players on the mound only pitched three innings a year ago. “The top 2 will be Wickersham and junior
Foster Rash.
“Junior Peyton Williams has the potential
to be our best pitcher,” Burrows said. This year, the Arkansas Activities Association has implemented a pitch-count rule for baseball pitchers. There are limits on how many pitches a player can make and how often he can make them. The most a player can
pitch in one game, with rest, is 110.
“We’ve never abused kids’ arms, so it doesn’t really affect us,” Burrows said. “The only prob- lem with it is having someone on-site keeping up with it; then you have to make everyone agree with how many. That is the only problem for me. We probably didn’t violate any of those
pitch-count rules ever.”
Burrows said his team has always kept a count
on the number of pitches his pitchers threw. “It’s just a headache for us to keep up with it,” he said. “The headache is to make sure that whoever is the official person keeping track of it that the AAA is requiring has the exact same number for everybody. We’ve always kept a pitch count on our team and their team. That’s
not anything new.”
This year, the Titans are members of a
blended conference with Class 5A and 6A schools and will play in the 6A East in postseason play. They will play Little Rock Fair, Little Rock Christian, Little Rock Hall, Maumelle, Pulaski Academy and Sylvan Hills in the regular season, then return to the 6A-East for the conference tournament. Those schools include Jonesboro, Hall, Marion, Mountain Home, Pine Buff, Searcy and West Memphis.
“We treat all the games the same,” Burrows said.
Jacksonville senior catcher Kameron Whitmore and head coach Larry Burrows work on an infield drill.
MARK BUFFALO/THREE RIVERS EDITION
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