SHS Tomcat Varsity Baseball Team includes (Seniors) Jamie Beckham, Derek Caudill, Steven Dedeaux, Quade Goble, Dustin Maulden, Paul Mooney, Scott Thames, Holden Watts, Joey White, Spencer Wilson (Juniors) Kris Frederickson, Timothy Johnson, Landon Meadows, T-Joe Pittman, Lee Redeemer, Javarris Willis, Jatarris Willis, (Sophomores) Philip Chandler, D.J. Davis, Jasper James, Josh James, Parker Smith, (Freshmen) Lucas Kirkland, Blake McCarroll and Kyle Morrison. The team is coached by Kevin Conard, Joel Bowman, Brad Calcote and Tyler Spruill.
Stone High baseball coach Kevin Conard isn’t exactly sure how his team will fare in the 2010 season, but he is sure of one thing.
“Nobody is going to play harder than us,” Conard, in his eighth season at the helm, said.
Conard returns 10 seniors to a team which went 2-10 in district play and failed to make the playoffs last season.
The Tomcats graduated just three players from last year’s squad, but those three were top-notch and will definitely be missed.
Ross Weathers is now at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College while Darmaal Moore moved on to East Central Community College and Kyle Fredrickson is not playing.
Returning are Jamie Beckham (2B), Derek Caudill (C), Steven Dedeaux (SS/RHP), Quade Goble (RHP), Dustin Mauldin (RHP/OF), Paul Mooney (1B/3B/RHP), Scott Thames (C/RHP), Holden Watts (3B/RHP), Joey White (OF/RHP) and Spencer Wilson (1B/RHP).
It should be noted that while eight of those seniors are listed as pitchers, not one of them is left-handed.
In fact, Conard doesn’t have a left-handed pitcher on the entire roster, a fact which may play havoc against strong right-handed hitting teams.
That’s another area where grit and determination will come into play for the Tomcats.
“We’re not the most talented guys but we’ve got experience and we work hard,” Conard said. “These guys do the little things every day that it takes to get better.”
The Tomcats enjoy a full roster and Conard expects to bring his youngsters up while at the same time getting his seniors a lot of playing time.
“I want for them to have success, but more importantly I want them to get some experience,” he said. “We’ve got a really good group of young guys.”
One huge advantage Stone will enjoy this year is the redistricting which puts them in a four-team Region 6-5A and takes them out of a region dominated by a perennially powerful East Central ballclub.
Instead, the Tomcats will face the likes of Wayne County, Picayune and Pearl River Central.
Picayune may well be the team to beat in the region.
The Maroon Tide made it all the way to South State out of Region 8-4A before falling to East Central last season.
While his team may suffer some losses along the way, Conard is confident they’ll improve as the season moves along.
“You know, just a little bit of success can take a team a long way,” he said. “At the same time, though, you’ve got to have that opportunity to get in there and just mess things up.”
And while wins are nice, the coach is more concerned with developing young men ready to take their place in society.
“When you get right down to it, this is a great bunch of kids we’ve got here,” he said.
