2019 Spring Preview: Eminence Baseball

eminence-baseball

By Justin Sampson (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Fortune favored Eminence Athletics in 2018 as the Redwings captured a Class 1 State Basketball Championship and nearly reached the final four on the diamond.

The ‘Wings of Spring went 16-4 last season, including an 11-game win streak midway through the year, before falling to Oran in the quarterfinals. That effort produced four All-State selections, including the graduated Robert Keeling.

That wasn’t the only loss for Eminence as head coach J.C. Hoagland departed for the same position at Van Buren. This year, Pete McBride will further load up his dance card by leading the program on top of coaching boys basketball and serving as the high school principal.

The windows to work on baseball have been small for a Class 1 school that fields most of those same players on the court.

McBride has experience with many of these names away from the court, having coached some during their time in little league. Still, the fall season was vital to the Redwings’ chemistry going into the spring. Despite a 2-8 finish, it allowed them to test up-and-coming talent in new spots and get in some necessary pitching work.

Four seniors are back to help get that younger group up to speed: Wyatt Spurgin, Trent McBride, Grant Dyer, and Reece Parrish.

McBride, fresh off an all-state honorable mention, represents the steadiest piece in the Eminence pitching rotation as the bonafide No. 1 starter. What comes behind him is to be determined.

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“We have to continue to develop our pitching,” said Pete McBride. “We started working towards that this fall, establishing that we’ll be solid from our number two through number five pitcher. We want to be competitive in those other spots, not just on the days (McBride) pitches.”

Spurgin landed on the all-state second team as a catcher last season, while Grant Dyer earned an honorable mention in the outfield.

Parrish could very well put together that same caliber of season at shortstop if he can stay healthy. He missed his entire junior campaign after tearing his ACL in basketball.

“He got on the field this fall and wasn’t quite ready. (His injury) really affected the team last year. Even with making it to the quarterfinals, not having our three-hole hitter and shortstop was definitely an impact.”

Junior Trevor Voyles is also expected to be a presence at third base and as the likely number two pitcher. He is a trustworthy bat in the middle of the lineup, having sent Eminence to the quarterfinals with a walkoff hit in an 8-7 sectional victory over Oak Ridge last May.

McBride and his staff have work to do in order to develop role players that can fill out the remainder of the roster. A big factor in Eminence notching 34 wins in two seasons has been the ability to put all aspects of the game together at once. The Redwings averaged more than 10 runs per game in 2018 while giving up two runs or fewer on nine occasions.

The upperclassmen will be called upon to play up to their experience level immediately.

“They’re winners,” said McBride. “What they’ve done on the basketball floor and being back-to-back district champions in baseball… they have a competitiveness and a drive to be successful in whatever they do. They have good a skillset and we’ve got good position players, but that competitiveness is the biggest factor.”

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