NEWS FEED

Baseball team eyes conference championship

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Written by Michael Turlington, Sports Editor

Last year, the Falcon baseball team had high hopes for the regular season and the state playoffs. The team finished the season with a 16-9 record, but was disappointed when they lost in the first round of the playoffs to Fred T. Foard. This year, the Falcons are ready to claim the conference championship and make a deeper run in the post-season.

“We know that we are going to see every team’s best game, so we have to prepare,” coach Brandon Ball said. “Every day, we try to play against ourselves so we can improve. Our goal for this season is a conference championship and hopefully a state championship as well.”

The team had a strong pitching rotation last year, but several of the pitchers graduated after the season. Ball feels that the juniors on the team will fill the holes on the pitching staff and give the team an advantage on the mound.

“This season, we have strong pitching and defense,” Ball said. “We lost some good senior pitchers last year, but we are expecting our junior pitchers to really carry us and fill those voids this year.”

This year, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association made new requirements for the bats that players are allowed to use. Ball feels that the new bats will add more excitement to the games and make the scores lower.

“We will have to play differently with the new bats because they do not have as much power as the old ones did,” Ball said. “Our team will have to bunt more, steal more, and hit and run a lot more. Last year, colleges enacted the same rule and the games had lower scores. We expect that at the high school level as well.”

Coaches and players are expecting an exciting season.

“I am looking forward to the excitement in games,” Ball said. “We play with a lot of heart and passion and that makes the game fun.”

The team has started the season strong this year with a 8-2 record. The team’s next game will be against Brevard on March 30.