Byrd baseball opens at home on Monday
County rival Glenvar is opponent
If two heads are better than one, the William Byrd baseball team should be well-coached this season. The Terriers begin their “co-coaches” experiment next week when they open at home against Glenvar Monday.
So far, so good. Co-coaches David Mitchell and Chris Carr have split the head coaching duties, with Mitchell handling the pitchers and Carr doing the offense and defensive alignment.
“David does all the pitching and I take the reigns on everything else,” said Carr. “He decides who pitches and he calls the pitches during the game. The rest is pretty much up to me.”
Mitchell has a strong staff to work with. Returning starters Jacob McMillan and Kevin Bowles give Byrd a left-right combination with talent and experience. Both are seniors, and senior righthander Jacob Clifton will also see some time on the mound.
“We do have some pitching depth, but we’ll rely heavily on McMillan and Bowles,” said Mitchell.
Ray Harron, a junior, is as talented as the others and looking to have a breakout season on the mound. Senior Aaron Stidham and junior Chad Hill could also see some time, but with Harron, Stidham, or Hill pitching Carr will have to do some shuffling in the field.
“When Bowles or McMillan pitch it will be easy,” said Carr. “When Bowles is on the mound Jacob will play right and Devin(Cassity) will be in center. When McMillan pitches Kevin will play center and Cassity will play right. When anyone else pitches, we’ll have to do a lot of shuffling.”
The other pitchers are all key members of the defense. Stidham would like to pitch, but right now he’s the only experienced catcher on the roster. Joe Stickney will eventually catch, but he’s still recovering from shoulder surgery in the fall, and he’s relegated to DH duties until at least the district games.
“He can swing the bat but he can’t do any more than lob the ball back to the pitcher at this point,” said Carr. “Once he can throw, that will help us a lot.”
Right now Byrd’s backups are Tanner Trivellin and Alex North. Trivellin hasn’t played organized baseball since he was 12, and North is an emergency backup who would be better served on the jayvee, where he would play every game. However, Carr is in a tough spot until Stickney returns.
“Tanner told me it was senior year and his last chance to play, and he just wanted to give it a shot,” said Carr. “He’s done everything I’ve asked, but that’s a long time to go without hitting live pitching. This is a little different than Dixie League.”
In the infield sophomore Easton Riggs is at first, sophomore Britton Chocklette is at second, Harron is at short, and Clifton is at third. It’s a good group with youth on the right side. On the left, Harron is a gifted player and Clifton is one of the best hitters in the district.
Hill, Bowles and McMillan man the outfield, with Cassity filling in for the pitcher of the day. All three can hit and Bowles and McMillan have a couple years varsity experience.
“We’ll probably only play 10 guys most of the year,” said Carr. “We only hit .240 as a team last year and I’m looking for these seniors to step up and show some leadership. For us to be better, the seniors are going to have to hit.”
The Blue Ridge District should be strong. Northside can match Byrd’s pitching with two aces of their own in Trent Cundiff and Patrick Arnold, the latter a lefty transfer from Lord Botetourt. Alleghany will also be strong, and Byrd should be contenders as well.
“If we can solve a couple problems we’ll be right there in the mix,” said Carr. “Right now we’re not as good as we’re going to be. It was evident from the scrimmage that we still have a long way to go.”
Three teams from the Blue Ridge make the region, so that’s not exactly a lofty goal in a five team district.
“Our goal isn’t to make the region, I expect us to make the region,” said Carr. “How far we go after that remains to be seen. We’re not a state caliber team right now, but a lot can happen between now and June.”
