-
Cannon Crompton/sports@cherokeescout.com Andrews’ Aiden Garrett fields a ball during baseball practice last week.
Andrews – As the Wildcats’ baseball team gets ready to kick off the 2024 season, the Cherokee Scout talked with head coach Brian Wilson about getting ready for the season.
The Scout also talked with Wilson about the team’s goals for the season, things they will build on from last season and their first game of the season against Wilson’s longtime friend.
Q: What goals do you have for the team this season?
A: “Well, some of the goals for this season would be obviously to do a little better than what we did last year. Last year, we were a 2-15 team. Previous to that, they hadn’t won a game in two years. So we managed to squeak out two wins last year.
“Our goal is to do a little better than that this year. We have the talent and I told these kids last year, ‘We’re very heavy with underclassmen and we have the potential to be at the top of the conference.’ You know, maybe not this year, but at least next year and in the year following that. We’re loaded with some great eighth-graders that came from last year.
“So one of the biggest goals is just to get better as a team as a whole. And eventually make a run for the conference championship, hopefully.”
Q: What will the team do to achieve those goals
A: “From last year, a lot of basics. A lot of the talent here is raw. And some of them, you know, haven’t played in two or three years, some of them have played since they were 12 years old. So we’re just trying to get the interest back into baseball, trying to get their drive to be better.
“To put the work in that it takes, it’s like I told them, ‘We only get out of what they’re going to put into it.’ You know, I don’t play the games, I don’t hit, I don’t field. But we have the talent to be a real good team if we come out and put the work in.
“Our hitting kids stand some improvement from last year. We weren’t a very strong hitting team, our pitching was mediocre, considering that two-thirds of our staff were underclassmen. So, you know, basically all areas of the game are what we’re looking to work on and improve, because by no means are we great at any one aspect of the game of baseball.”
Q: What will the team build on from last year?
A: “Trying to recognize pitch counts better probably as far as pitchers go,
knowing what pitches in what situations, how to pitch certain players. As far as our hitting, recognizing, for instance, last year we didn’t bunt a whole lot. We look to change that.
“We have some speedsters who I think that would really benefit our game. And recognizing where your fielders are at play and taking advantage of what other teams are giving us. The big thing, thinking the game of baseball before it actually happens, recognizing situations and knowing what you’re going to do in those situations and preparing so to speak for those situations.”
Q: Who are some standout players that the readers should know?
A: “I’m old school, so I don’t go around patting players on the back, telling them how good they are, so I don’t really like to do that. But coming into this year, probably one of our biggest leaders is a returner from last year. He’s only a junior, but Braxton Rickett. He’ll probably be our No. 1 on the pitching staff.
“Another player that would come to mind that I expect some big things out of him this year would be Logan Schuler, who is also a sophomore. And then Keegan Ellis is obviously injured; he’s out for the year with a torn ACL from basketball.
“And then my center-fielder Eli Aguilar, who is a returner from last year so all these guys have one year and under me that to know what I expect out of them. And Eli is a left handed hitter, he’s a left-handed fielder, he’s my starting center-fielder, he’s my leadoff hitter. He struggled at the plate last year, but most of that was confidence. His thing is, I tell them all the time that hitting is about 80 percent to 85 percent mental. So it’s all about him getting that in his mind.
“And, man, there’s two or three of those guys and I may be putting the cart before the horse, but I feel like I’ve got a couple players on this team that by their senior years could really push to be at least All-Conference if not make a run at being maybe a Conference Player of the Year, and that’s my honest opinion of him. I’m not biased as a coach, just looking at talent. I think that but those three players there, like I say, there’s not really one standout guy. I would say that would be Braxton just simply due to the fact that he’s a pitcher. And actually Logan is a pitcher as well as the starting shortstop. But those two kids I expect a lot out of, and Eli Aguilar to be right there.”
Q: What are some games that stand out to you on the schedule for this season?
A: “We have Towns County (Ga.) on March 4 and 5 and they are coached by a great friend of mine that I played summer league baseball with when I was a teenager in high school, Shannon Floyd, he’s a great coach. He and I probably coach a whole lot alike. His team will be prepared. I know they’ll be well coached. Excited about that.
“Then as far as conference games go, Swain’s very well coached, Hayesville was very well coached. Both of those are probably our biggest competition with Murphy following right behind that. They’re very young, but you can’t really rule them out from being there at the top of the conference.
“Our goal is to split with those teams. There was the Hayesville game, for instance, we played them at their place. They scored 10 runs on us in the bottom of the first, and we held him scoreless for the next four innings. They ended up beating us 11 to one, but we proved that within those four innings we can play with them. So that’s one of those things we’re trying to motivate them and build off of is we can play with these guys. We just got to figure out how to put it all together for seven innings.
“Murphy beat us eight to one down there and we led them one to nothing for three innings. We played with them for four good innings. With Swain, we did the same. And then the rest of it with Robbinsville and Cherokee was up for grabs in between us. We were pretty well evenly matched in those games. We managed to split with Robbinsville and with Cherokee and that was our two wins for the year.”
Q: How will they prepare for the first game of the season against Towns County?
A: “Well, we’re kind of behind the eight ball with our basketball players still practicing with the basketball team. But we’re just coming out doing our regular practices. We’re going through batting practice. We’re doing situations on the field fielding, just pretty much full on practice trying to get ready for those games.”
The Wildcats will travel south to Hiawassee, Ga., to start their season by taking on Towns County on Monday. They will come back for their first home game of the season, which is also against Towns County, on Tuesday.