Armed with a deep and talented senior class, expectations are sky high for the Conway baseball team in 2016.
A year ago, Conway went 27-5 and captured a district title, and this season, head coach Clay Bilyeu returns all but one starter from that squad.
Gone is Tyler Simpson, who started at first base and made three appearances on the mound. But the Bears return the entire rest of its varsity, including nine starters — eight of whom are seniors.
On Monday, the Bears opened practice and Bilyeu said the squad has been lucky enough to experience quality weather.
“We’ve had a pretty good first week and thought we’ve been pretty productive,” Bilyeu said. “We’ve got a mostly senior group so we can jump right in and don’t have to cover the basic stuff, we’ve got a lot of that out of the way.”
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Bilyeu said several players who were a big part of a successful basketball team throughout the winter have bounced back nicely after a tough loss to rival Fair Grove in the district championship game.
“I gave them the choice to take a couple days off, but most of them are there and they still have disappointment from it, but I think they enjoy both enough that they are ready to go with baseball too,” Bilyeu said.
Conway was 14-2 in the fall with losses to Plato and Norwood. The Bears won both its home tournament and the Summit Conference tournament.
“We played well most of the time,” Bilyeu said. “I think we did a little more experimenting with different lineups and people in different places. I feel for the most part it was a good fall. The games we lost, I felt like were both winnable games but that’s the way it goes.”
Bilyeu said the 2016 team reminds him of his 2010 Final Four team, not only because both teams featured eight seniors who were starters as underclassmen, but because of the depth and quality on the pitching staff.
Conway pitchers recorded nine shutouts in just 16 games in the fall and Bilyeu said the pitching will be the Bears strength this season.
Leading the way is senior right hander Hunter Dame, a fouryear starter who has signed to continue his baseball career at Missouri State University. Dame was 9-2 last season with a 0.93 ERA. He threw 67 innings, allowed 34 hits, walked 23 and struck out 117.
“He is putting up statistics that would rival anybody who has ever pitched here, I’m sure,” Bilyeu said. “He is a flame thrower and is hitting 90-91 miles per hour on the gun. When we roll him out there, I feel we’re probably the best team on the field, no matter who we are playing.”
Also back is Andrew Huckaby, an all-state performer last season when he led the team with a 10-1 record and a 0.76 ERA. In 64 innings, he allowed 43 hits, walked 22 and struck out 80.
“We have a lot of depth and we have three guys that all give us something a little bit different,” Bilyeu said. “Andrew is our junk ball guy who is going to rely on hitting spots and changing speeds.”
The third option on the Bears pitching staff is Ethan Medlock, a returning three year starter who was 7.2 with a 3.30 ERA last season.
“Ethan’s velocity has gotten a lot better and I think he is going to have a great senior season,” Bilyeu said. “Last year, he had a great season, but I think he has upped his velocity to where his strike out numbers are going to go up.
“He has a lot of movement to all his pitches and if he throws strikes, we could have three all-state pitchers, I think.”
Also in the mix are three sophomores who could see spot time as they prepare for big roles as juniors and seniors.
Dylan Dampier is a sophomore transfer from Lebanon and will likely see time as the fourth starter.
“I think he’ll see quite a few innings this year and we’ll use him as a closer or in relief too,” Bilyeu said. “I’ve been impressed with him the first week of practice and I think he can help us. He’s another big, strong kid that throws pretty hard, especially at the Class 3 level, he’s a guy that can fill in at the No. 1 next year and be a legit No. 1 starter.”
Also in the mix are Cooper Keesling and Brody Bilyeu. Keesling is a left handed sophomore, while Bilyeu is a sophomore right hander.
“(Keesling) doesn’t throw real hard, but he might see a few innings,” Clay Bilyeu said. “Brody Bilyeu could see a couple innings, he threw a couple in the fall.
“If they can make a normal jump between their sophomore and junior year, then we’re going to come back next year with a lot better team than people think we will have after losing all the seniors that we have.”
Conway will open the season on March 19 against Pierce City.
