Replacing 10 seniors can be a tough task — one that the Camp Verde High School’s baseball team will be challenged with this season.
With four juniors and zero seniors there is a lack of experience on the team, but what last year’s graduating class left behind was a work ethic that should push this year’s group to get better.
“The one good thing about having a class like that is a lot of the young guys got a lot of good experience in seeing what they’re going to need to do to have that kind of success,” Cowboys head coach Will Davis said. “The biggest task is going to be finding out who’s actually ready to play at the next level, but at least they have an idea of what kind of work needs to be put in to get there.
“We may not win a lot of games this year, but we will improve. We will get better every game, and that’s going to be the main key.”
The aforementioned graduating class progressed each season in the win column, culminating in a 15-4 record, region championship and No. 4 seed in the state tournament last year. That process is starting over now.
Junior Dominiq Bruno is the most seasoned of the bunch. Bruno, a 2017 Second Team All-Central Region pick, along with juniors Dakota Battise, Braden Schuh and Dawson McCune, make up the leadership and infield of a defense that Davis still expects to play well.
Davis pointed out McCune as a player has improved much since last season.
“Offensively he’s really turned the corner, and he’s just hitting the ball hard all over the field,” Davis said. “As well as pitching, he’s never really been a pitcher in the past … He’s been out all offseason working on it, and now he’s starting to look like a real pitcher.”
The most inexperienced areas of the defense are on the mound and behind the plate. Davis said that each of those juniors would make up the pitching rotation, while sophomore Kelton O’Grady will be the catcher. A new group of outfielders will track down the fly balls.
“Strengths-wise it’s going to be defense, we’re going to play really good defense, which seems to be the MO of every team I coach for some weird reason,” Davis said. “Weaknesses, we’re just young, we’ve got a lot of immature bodies. We’re not going to pitch it real well, we’re not going to hit real well and for that reason.”
Battise said that batting and creating team continuity has been the emphasis through the first week of practice. Last year much of the team’s offensive success came from stolen bases. As in seasons past, Davis also expects to continue playing small ball and run on opponents this year with a right-handed heavy lineup.
In terms of the Central Region, he sees Sedona Red Rock High School, — the most veteran team — and Paradise Honors High School, which gains players from the closing of a nearby school, being the top two.
“We’re just trying to improve, we’re not expecting anything, but of course we’re going to be trying to win every game still no matter whether we’re starting three freshmen and four sophomores,” Davis said. “The goal is still to win baseball games, that’s why we keep score, but expectations aren’t going to be state champion like last year. Our goal is going to be improve every day, every pitch, every play. If we can do that I feel like we’ll have a successful year.”
