St. Martin, St. Stanislaus, and West Harrison high school baseball eyeing opening day

We are just over a week away from hearing the ping of a baseball meeting a bat during an actual game instead of in a batting cage.

If that doesn’t make you excited then I don’t know what will!

I know that teams and coaches are excited to get going – including St. Stanislaus and head coach Brad Corley. Corley and the Rock-A-Chaws had a very successful season last year, finishing 22-13 – including 8-2 in district play.

They ended their season in the state championship but while falling short of a title, Corley and his crew are ready to get back to the big stage.

“We are super excited,” he said. “Finally have sunny skies – it’s nice to be outside. The guys have worked so hard, like I said, we are just ready to get going and see what we got and where we stand right now. Playing in the state championship last year kind of lit a fire for them, you know, they have been there now. Hopefully we can get back again and maybe come out on top this year.”

Over to West Harrison high school where the Hurricanes are coming off a year where they finished with an 8-19 overall record that saw them finish 4th in district play.

The Green and Orange are coming into this season knowing they graduated seniors who played quality innings last year. But as head coach David Marsland says, they will be able to lean on this years seniors who have stepped up in a major way.

“As practice has gone to this point the seniors who are returning their leadership has been stellar,” he said. “They are the first ones to get after it, they are leading guys through everything that we have done, and off-season workouts have been really good. There is just never a dull moment when it gets close to the start of the season.”

While West Harrison lost a handful of seniors, schools like St. Martin have the luxury of returning more players.

Last season the Yellowjackets finished 8-21…but they were young.

This season everyone has an extra year under their belts and, as coach Kary Bridges says, bringing back that talent should help them have a better overall season.

“Well it certainly helps,” he said. “There won’t be anything that most of these guys that play this year haven’t seen. We are hoping for a better overall season. The end of our season went well but we are hoping for a better overall season.”