2020 Spring Preview: Fair Play Baseball

be4w6577

By Chris Parker

Fair Play baseball will look to climb back above .500 this year with seven starters and eight lettermen returning from last season’s team that finished 6-9 overall.

Those returning lettermen include: Landon Wright (senior pitcher/first base), Colby Durst (senior catcher/outfield), Adrian Hartshorn (junior pitcher/outfield), Adam Bass (junior infielder), Kolin Thomas (junior infielder), Lane Neil (junior infielder), Mason Hopkins (junior infielder) and Jacob Grove (sophomore outfielder)

Wright will be looked to for leadership in his senior season. He hit .400 last year with 12 total RBIs.

“We are going to look for Landon to take over as our guy on the mound this year. He has the potential as a lefty to really tough. We will also look for him to take on impact role in middle of the order for us,” Fair Play coach Deric Link said.

Durst will a steady presence behind the plate at catcher.

“Colby will do a lot of the dirty work for us behind the plate. He is a hard-nosed kid who loves to compete. We are also looking forward to him taking the next step forward and being an impact bat for us,” Link said.

Bass has shown a lot of growth heading into his junior season.

CLICK HERE FOR LINKS TO ALL THE SPRING SPORTS PREVIEWS

“Adam is a guy I think can take a huge leap in his development. He has the potential to be the best bat on our team. He will hold down the corners of the infield for us as well,” Link said.

Thomas returns to his position at shortstop.

“Kolin took on the role of being our shortstop last year and he did a fantastic job. His athleticism and strong arm allow him to make a ton of plays. When right as well, he can be a huge key to us having success offensively. When he gets on base we can do a lot of things as a team to put pressure on the defense,” Link said.

Hartshorn is the key cog in the outfield who will see more time on the hill this year.

“Adrian has been our leader in the outfield for the past two years. He does a tremendous job and gets great jumps. He was a bullpen guy for us last year and we are looking forward to him taking on a bigger role on the mound. He was one of our more consistent bats last year and came up big in some big spots,” Link said.

Hopkins will look to lock down a spot on the infield this year.

“Mason is another middle infielder for us, he also spent some time in the outfield. He has a chance to take ownership of that spot this spring and I’m looking forward to seeing his growth as a baseball player,” Link said.

Neil will be a key utility player.

“Lane split time at second base as well as in the outfield. He could multiple things for us as well as being a guy we could rely on out of the bullpen. His bat came up in some big spots last year and came through. He has a chance to take on a bigger role this spring and being a key guy for us,” Link said.

Grove saw some starts as a freshman and will see an even bigger role this year.

“Jacob came on late last year and got the opportunity to start a couple times in the outfield. He made sure he took advantage of those opportunities and we could not leave him out of the lineup. Jacob loves the game and I am excited to see his development,” Link said.

Fair Play opens the season on Mar. 23 at Humansville.

Related Posts

Loading...