By Chris Parker
Purdy baseball posted a 12-19 record last season finishing under .500 for the first time since 2015. The Eagles will look to get back to their winning ways after an 18-5 fall season behind eight returning varsity starters.
Junior Damon Mahurin will be the No. 1 pitcher on the mound. He commands the zone and mixes speeds well according to Purdy head coach Joshua Hughes. Fellow junior Easten Goetz and sophomore Hunter Wormington will slot in at the No. 2 and 3 spots in the rotation.
The pitching staff will be a strength.
“We won a lot of really close, low scoring games this fall,” Hughes said. “We bring back over two-thirds of our pitching from last spring and most were freshmen and sophomores last year. So, a year stronger, more mature, and more seasoned will help.”
Goetz and Grady Mahurin (freshman) will be behind the plate at catcher.
Damon Mahurin (third base), Daniel Aldaba (freshman shortstop), Jackson Lee (sophomore second base), Will Henderson (senior first base) and Teagan Manwarren (senior first base) will be in the mix around the infield depending on who is pitching. Henderson is the utility guy who will fill in all around based on who is pitching.
Henderson and Manwarren will be looked to for leadership.
“Will Henderson and Teagan Manwarren are returning seniors that lead by example and know the Purdy Way,” Hughes said. “They will help with our young guys.”
Aldo Perez (junior left field), JJ Aguilar (junior left field), Wormington (centerfield), Simon Walker (junior centerfield), Brennan Hawkins (sophomore right field), Simon Walker (junior right field) and Alex Stubblefield (sophomore) will all look for time in the outfield.
Hughes will look for the offense to take a step forward.
“Offensively, we struggled last spring and this fall to score runs early,” Hughes said. “We started buying into the small ball side of things and started to get more runs on the board. If we can continue to build on that and increase our other offensive numbers, we should score a lot more runs.”
Purdy opens the season Mar. 22-25 at its home tournament.
