By Gene Stanley/Sports Correspondent
Usually, a young team plus a new coach equals a rebuilding year.
Coosa Christian baseball coach Dewayne Boyd, however, isn’t approaching his first season that way.
Instead, the Conquerors are facing a stacked schedule in the early going to get ready for Class 1A, Area 13 play.
“We’re playing (Class 4A) Hokes Bluff and Cherokee County early in the season,” Boyd said. “Our first 11 games are pretty tough but I hope they get us ready to compete for and maybe win the area.”
Area foes include Collinsville, Cedar Bluff, Spring Garden and Gaylesville.
“We’ve got a tough area,” Boyd said. “But I am going to drive the guys to improve to the point [where] they can compete and win the area.”
The Conquerors feature five seniors in twins Jonah and Micah Mills, Nick Williamson, Minsoo Kim and Brandon Phillips.
“I expect a lot out of the seniors, because they haven’t really had a good baseball season since they’ve been on the varsity,” Boyd said. “I hope they’ve got it in them to want a really good season for their senior year.”
In his first year out of college, the former Etowah High and Gadsden State catcher is optimistic that Coosa can have that type of season.
“There’s no reason for us to not win. We’ve got a good core group of experienced players who seem to want to win as badly as I do.”