CHARLOTTESVILLE — The 2019 high school baseball season will be new to most everyone but the coach at Eastern Hancock High School.
In his 14th season as the Royals head coach, Chad Coughenour welcomes a slew of new faces.
Only Ryan Burris — and he’ll be changing positions — returns with considerable playing time from the 2018 squad that went 13-15 and 6-2 in the Mid-Eastern Conference.
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“For us, our goal is to get better every game,” Coughenour said. “We’re going to have to continue to get better at things we do. We know we’ll make mistakes. We just don’t want to be making those same mistakes at the end of the year that we made at the beginning of the year.”
Burris, a junior, played right field last season. He’ll move to second base, a position he played over the summer during travel ball season. He led the 2018 Royals in doubles with six and was fourth in RBIs with 17.
“The key for any team to be successful is teamwork,” Burris said. “We will have a lot to learn about each other in the next couple of weeks.”
With five at-bats and nine innings pitched in 2018, senior Andy Locker is the second most experienced player on the team. He is set to play third base.
Coughenour said spots are set in the infield, but a lot is still up for grabs in the outfield. Sophomore Landon Kintner, who played two varsity games last year, is the catcher. Junior Trey Brown appears to have the spot at first base with junior Kyle Lacy backing up and possibly handling some designated hitter duties. The team’s lone freshman, Wyatt Sutton, will be at shortstop.
“I think he will surprise some people,” Coughenour said of his freshman.
Seven players are vying for three outfield spots. Senior Keegan Bowman, juniors Dylan Bates and Kolton Synesael and sophomores Cameron Wise, Landon Stanley, Chris Craney and Caden Hancock are all in the running.
And speaking of running, Coughenour expects his youthful club to be fast.
“We will have a lot of team speed,” Coughenour said, noting Bates, Burris, Sutton and Brown as some of his quicker guys. “We don’t have a big masher. We have line drive, ground ball hitters. We’ll put guys in motion a lot and do those type of things.”
Just like his everyday batting order and defense, the pitching staff is new, too. Only Locker has pitched at the varsity level. Synesael is the most experienced from the junior varsity team with 25 innings last year. Jakob Harris, who like Kintner played in two varsity games in 2018, threw 21 reserve team innings.
On the Royals’ 14-man roster, 11 are listed as position/pitcher. The team will be versatile and enable Coughenour to have plenty of flexibility when making out a lineup card and with in-game changes.
“We’re all going to have to work together,” Lacy said. “There are not a lot of stars, so we’re going to have to be a complete team. Everyone is going to have to put in work and work together.”
A strong area for the team will be its chemistry. Coughenour said his players get along with each other as well as any group he has coached.
“It’s the best group overall that we’ve had from one through 28 (including the junior varsity) that really gets along well and sacrifices for each other,” Coughenour said. “The attitude of the ball players is really good. That carries over to the ball field. Wins and losses, we’ll see how that works, but they’ll compete and push each other and hold each other accountable and that’s what we ask them to do.”
The young group will be challenged early and their cohesiveness should come in handy with a very strong early schedule.
The regular season opens Monday against Heritage Christian, the team that eliminated the Royals, 10-0, in the sectional last season and advanced to the sectional final before losing 4-2 to semistate qualifier Scecina. Two MEC games against Cowan and Monroe Central, and a game against Class 3A Cardinal Ritter, follow on the road.
A home doubleheader with rival Knightstown and a contest against Scecina is next on the ledger.
The Royals also have a stretch of six straight MEC contests from April 22 to May 4, which includes an expected strong Shenandoah team, preseason state-ranked Wapahani and defending Class 1A champion Daleville.
“Everybody is working hard and has a positive attitude,” Locker said of his team’s preparation for the season. “The (new) kids have something to prove and they always go hard. The upperclassmen have something to prove and the juniors this year, except Burris, are first-year starters as well. We all have something to prove.”
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Eastern Hancock Royals
Coach: Chad Coughenour (14th year)
Last season: 13-15, 6-2 MEC; lost 10-0 to Heritage Christian in 2A sectional semifinal.
Key returnees: 2B/P Ryan Burris (.212, 17 RBI), 3B/P/INF Andy Locker
Top newcomers: C/3B Landon Kintner, C/P/OF Jakob Harris, SS/P Wyatt Sutton, OF Keegan Bowman
Outlook: There are a lot of unknowns for the Royals this season. Coughenour hopes they learn as they go, gaining experience and getting better game by game. Burris is the only everyday player returning from 2018. Locker saw action in 14 of 27 games, while only two others, Landon Kintner (two games) and Jakob Harris (two games) stepped onto the varsity field. It should be a year of learning with the optimism that the best ball of the season will be played when tournament time arises.
Notable: What the Royals lack in experience they gain in team chemistry. Coughenour said this group gets along as well as any he has had in his 14 years as the Royals head coach. Their teamwork and ability to communicate could be the X-factor to success.
Schedule
Date;Opponent;Time
March 25;Heritage Christian;5:30 p.m.
March 27;at Cowan;5:30 p.m.
March 28;at Monroe Central;5:30 p.m.
Apr. 10;at Cardinal Ritter;5:30 p.m.
Apr. 13;Knightstown (DH);10:00 a.m.
Apr. 15;Scecina;5:30 p.m.
Apr. 16;at Tri;5:00 p.m.
Apr. 17;Lapel;5:30 p.m.
Apr. 20;at Triton Central (DH);10:00 a.m.
Apr. 22;at Wes-Del;5:30 p.m.
Apr. 25;at Blue River Valley;5:30 p.m.
Apr. 26;Shenandoah;5:30 p.m.
Apr. 30;Randolph Southern;5:30 p.m.
May 2;at Wapahani;5:30 p.m.
May 4;Daleville (DH);10:00 a.m.
May 7;Morristown;5:30 p.m.
May 9;Hagerstown;5:30 p.m.
May 11;at Mooresville Tournament;10:00 a.m.
May 13;Northeastern;5:30 p.m.
May 14;Frankton;5:30 p.m.
May 17;at Seton Catholic:5:30 p.m.
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