There are three things you can count on in the spring: warmer temperatures, sunshine, and Warren County Pioneer baseball.
One out of three so far isn’t bad.
The Pioneers are getting back in the swing of things under head coach Adam Childs. WCHS finished with a 16-16 overall record and an impressive 7-3 district record last year. Warren County rolled off four consecutive wins last season before a 5-4 loss to the Cookeville Cavaliers in the District 6AAA Tournament championship game.
Although the Pioneers came up one run short in the championship, a second-place finish earned Warren County a berth in the 3AAA Regional Tournament held in Chattanooga. The Pioneers got caught in an offensive storm surge from the East Hamilton Hurricanes and lost in the opening round, 10-1.
The Pioneers graduated six players from last year’s roster that included his ace pitcher Will Sweeton and power hitter Chayse Frye.
Coach Childs said, “We have a good group of young talented pitchers. They have a much more experienced defense behind them.”
Colby Elkins played well at third base last season for Warren County and the Pioneers will count on Elkins’ size at the plate. Elkins swung a heavy bat last season and knows how to get on base.
Taisei Yasunaga will be at the shortstop for the second year. Yasunaga has great reaction time after the ball is hit. He is very solid at the plate and he always looks ahead to the next base.
At second base is Lucas Rogers. He is another heads-up player who plans out his next move before the ball is put into play. Rogers is aggressive on defense and he is ready to lay out on every play.
Coach Childs said, “First base is wide open as of right now. We lost Chayse Frye and it is just hard to replace a player like him at such a critical position. We have guys who are competing for a starting spot at first base on a daily basis.”
Isaac Golden makes his return to centerfield as a junior. Golden uses his quickness to chase down long fly balls and he has the strength to get the ball back to the infield in a hurry.
Golden has great bat speed at the plate and good vision. His quickness can easily gather up extra bases when he puts the ball into the outfield.
Coach Childs says the corners of the outfield are wide open as of right now. There are several young players who will see time and compete for those spots which remain.
Pioneer pitchers who will see action on the hill are Tyler Prater and Tyler Hollingsworth. Both put in work last season and have only gotten stronger.
Coach Childs has a new staff this season, he brought in former Pioneer players. Assistant coaches J.W. Holt, Derrin Rogers, and Brian Grissom have joined forces in hopes of making 2016 even more successful than last year.
The Pioneers scrimmaged Wilson Central and the two teams played a total of 19 innings. Coach Childs said, “We had a good day on defense and even though our pitchers were younger, we threw a lot of strikes.”
With two scrimmages left, Warren County will play Beech High School on the road Monday night. Then on Tuesday night, the Pioneers will play host to Grundy County. The Pioneers final scrimmage is scheduled for a start time of 5 p.m. at Warren County High School.