By Chris Parker
Mountain Grove returns four starters and six total lettermen from last season’s nine-win team.
The Panthers will rely on a lot of youth this season with no seniors listed on the roster.
The pitching staff will feature Trace Harker (junior), Eli Golden (junior), Taylor Garner (junior), Skip Thompson (sophomore), Briar Parsons (junior), Sawyer Kidd (sophomore), Brady Burnett (junior) and Kayne Meyer (freshman).
“We will deploy a lot of arms this season. All our guys are similar three-pitch guys that attack the zone. We are going to be inexperienced on the mound,” second-year Mountain Grove head coach Jeff Richardson said. “We are going to have to be in the zone on the mound every inning to be successful. We don’t have a lot of high velo arms so efficiency will be key.”
Parsons was second on the team in innings pitched with 28 last season. He had 27 strikeouts and a 4.50 ERA. Garner was just behind him with 27 innings pitched, 28 strikeouts and a 3.11 ERA.
Golden and Meyer are both options at catcher.
Thompson, Garner, Golden, Kaden Murphy, Kason Rollins, Kidd and Parsons are all in the mix on the infield.
The outfield will feature Bryson Bershire in left, Harker in center, Burnett in right with Rollins as a fourth outfielder.
Richardson is looking for leadership out of Harker and Golden.
“They were a couple of our top performers and are constantly helping out teammates to make them better,” Richardson said.
Golden posted an OPS of .840 with six doubles, two triples and 18 RBI last season. Harker hit .299 with seven doubles, 18 RBI and 15 runs scored.
Richardson will look for his young team to show growth throughout the season.
“Our desire to get better is going to help us continue to improve as the season goes along,” Richardson said. “We have a lot of guys that want to challenge themselves every time they show up.”
Mountain Grove opens the season on Mar. 21 at the Harrison (Ark.) tournament.
“The identity that I want to see out of the guys is commitment. Each day showing up committed to their teammates and getting better as people and players,” Richardson said. “I expect us to compete from start to finish every game. Not really sure how that comes out in the win loss columns, but our effort is all we can control.”
