By JON WEBB
Glasgow Daily Times
GLASGOW —
Sam Royse doesn’t have one specific, major concern.
“One day we look good at some things, and another day we’ll look good at something else,” the Glasgow head baseball coach said.
And that’s his concern.
Coming into the 2010 season and off a 2009 in which the Scotties opened the season with a three-game losing streak and closed it with a five-game slide, Royse said the team’s primary ambition is consistency in pitching, hitting, baserunning, defense ... well, pretty much every thing.
“Our main concern is to develop consistency in our play and even in our practice. And hopefully that consistency is pretty good and not pretty bad,” he said. “I’m not concerned about pitching, defense or hitting one over the other, because you know in order to win baseball games, you’ve got to get the right amount of all those things.”
The Scotties shouldn’t have any concerns as far as starting pitching. According to Royse, pitchers Mike Glass, Tyler Emberton and Tyler Howard will be “counted on heavily” to deliver innings for Glasgow. Seniors Tyler Wheeler, Griffin Smith and juniors Trey Alexander and Jesse Poindexter will also garner time on the mound, as well as younger players coming up the pipe.
That pipe, however, is clogged at the moment. The Scotties return 31 players from 2009, including nine seniors (Dean Glass, Emberton, Howard, Wheeler, Griffin Smith, Ben Smith, Kory Stone, Cody Richardson and Mike Glass) who will give Glasgow a rare amount of experience.
“This is a big senior class,” Royse said. “And that’s something we haven’t had in awhile.”
Neither was a winning season before last year. The Scotties’ 14-12-1 record in 2009 marked their first above .500 campaign since 2005. The minor drought was a rarity for Glasgow, which racked up consecutive district championships in the late 1990s through 2004. District championships have eluded the team since then, and the Scotties last advanced to the Region in 2007.
The team’s first step in quenching that drought comes Monday, when Glasgow travels to John Hardin. The matchup serves as the first-leg in a season-opening three-game road trip that features stops in Central Hardin and Pulaski County. The Scotties then turn around with home contests against Southwestern, and a Saturday double header with Bullitt East and Logan County before closing March on the street against Franklin-Simpson (March 29) and Caverna (March 30). All in all, Glasgow will play eight games in the first nine days of the season.
Even with Spring Break looming, the Scotties won’t get much of a break. Glasgow will face Bowling Green on April 1 and embark on its annual trip to Florida to play six games April 4-9 as part of the Florida Baseball Beach Bash.
The remains of April will feature contests with Allen County-Scottsville (April 13, 27), Barren County (April 20), Monroe County (April 15, 29) and Metcalfe County (April 23). The Scotties will play their last district game against Barren on May 6, before closing the regular season against the likes of Greenwood (May 14), Caverna (May 10) and Southwestern (May 22).
Whether 2010 will represent a turning point for his team, Royse isn’t sure. He isn’t concerned with making predictions.
“I ain’t a philosopher about baseball,” he said. “I don’t have any magic numbers. I just hope we can get everything going in the right direction.”
