The 2012 spring baseball season gets underway this weekend as the Eagles host Cedar Valley at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Eagles baseball team is looking to earn a trip to the regional tournament and beyond this season as the squad has high hopes in 2012.
?Our goal is to win a national championship. That is always what we want to do,? head coach Josh Stewart said. ?There are certain thing that we have to do first to reach that goal, like winning a conference championship, making the regional tournament and winning the regional tournament. We like to set our goals as high as we can and then try to reach them.?
Fans should have a lot to look forward to from the Eagles this season as the team boasts one of the strongest hitting squads the school has ever seen.?We should be very strong at the plate this season,? Stewart said. ?One through nine, we should be able to put a lineup on the field that can really hit the ball well.?
Fans can look forward to a mixture of regional talent and international talent this season as the team features some of the best players from around the area and beyond.
Infielder Austin Lick played his high school ball at Chapel Hill while the team also boasts other top regional players like Jordan Wright (Maud) and Matt Durst (Whitehouse).
The team also has several recruits from around the state, including Sinton?s Shane Segovia and Overton?s Telvin Darden.
This year?s Eagle squad also includes some top international talent, including Luis Sanchez and Darius Holguin (Dominican Republic), Richard Bain (Bahamas), Billy Gonzales (Puerto Rico) and Angus Roeger (Australia).
The team will have to overcome some inexperience on the pitching mound, but Stewart is confident in the staff he has put together.
?We have a young, but talented pitching staff. There is not a lot of experience there but I think we have enough talent to overcome that,? he said. ?We have guys that throw strikes and some that throw hard, so we think we will be fine.?
Overall, Stewart says that he thinks that this team has the pieces it needs to put together a very successful season.
?We play hard and we play with a good tempo. We have some guys that can really hit and some guys that can really run. Our pitchers throw strikes and we should be good on defense. We have a solid lineup, one through nine, and we should be a tough team for opposing pitchers to face,? Stewart said. ?Fans should be able to come out and see an exciting brand of baseball this spring.?
The Eagles are home for their first two dates of the season as they host Cedar Valley for a double-header beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday before taking on Hill College at 2 p.m. Feb 4.
