By Kary Booher/For OzarksSportsZone.com
The obvious question facing the Mountain Grove High School baseball team is this: Do the Panthers have the horses to defend their Class 3 state championship?
For that, we’ll give the floor to Derwin McGownd, the Mountain Grove coach whose team, oh, just graduated three all-state players and another who was also an all-conference selection.
“I think we can challenge,” McGownd said. “The new pitching regulations are going to change the strategy a little bit and we’ll still have to get through districts, but we have horses.”
The Panthers’ strength could be up the middle defensively, with a third-year starting catcher in all-state selection Treye Collins, three quality arms in Brock Coffman, Austin Williams and Connor McNew and an experienced senior patrolling center field in Brandon Calhoun.
Collins not only hit .385 last season with 28 RBIs but also continued to enhance his leadership role behind the plate. That will be even more important for a team with no true No. 1 and the state’s new pitch-count rules.
“He’s one of the best catchers I’ve had,” said McGownd, who enters his 10th seasons with a 114-60 record. “We’ll still call most of the pitches from the bench. But he has the option to change them. But if he changes them, we’ve told him to make sure it’s a quality pitch.”
Coffman was 5-1 with a 1.74 earned run average last year and earned all-state. Williams had a 2.47 ERA, and McNew was 2-1 with 0.78 ERA. Cade Coffman and Hayden Newberry saw time on the mound in JV games last year.
“I don’t know if I have a No. 1, but they’re around the plate,” McGownd said. “If they can be around the plate, then we can conserve some arms. They pitch to contact and, if our defense plays behind them, I think we’ll be OK.”
Coffman and Newberry could share shortstop duties, with Coffman moving from second base, his home the past three years. The team also will move Calhoun to center after he played all three outfield positions last year. Charles Felker, a junior, will try to win over the role at second base, with Williams anchoring third base.
“(Calhoun) did a really solid job,” McGownd said. “And his work ethic this offseason has been really good.”
THE NEW O-ZONE APP IS HERE!
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FOR APPLE
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID
The projected lineup has Newberry leading off, with Coffman, Collins, McNew and Williams in the middle of the order.
Newberry hit .327 last year on 32 hits, collecting 29 RBI. He also stole seven bases. Coffman had 10 steals and 27 RBI last year, while Felker also stole 10 bags.
“I’ve just got to find someone who can handle the bat in the two-hole, bunt and run” McGownd said. “I’m not sure who that’s going to be.”
Mountain Grove’s bench also includes Raleigh Wakefield and Bailey Linton.
The Panthers graduated three all-state players in Alex Moore (P), D.J. McNew (IF) and Blaine Halford (UTIL).
For McGownd, the other challenge will come early in the season. Last year, most of the players were on the basketball team that placed third in Class 3 and weren’t able to join the baseball team full-time until a week before the season-opener. Fortunately for Mountain Grove, they brought over a winning mindset.
Only, the difference this year is that Mountain Grove’s baseball team will be among the hunted.
“We’ve got a huge target on our back,” McGownd said. “We’re the No. 4-ranked team in the state and the defending champs. So everybody is going to use us as a measuring stick. We’ve got to work hard and try to get better every day.”
