By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Marion C. Early baseball enjoyed yet another successful season in 2024.
The Panthers finished with an 18-6 record, falling to Weaubleau in the district tournament.
“It was a disappointing end to the season,” head coach Jason Grose said. “We had the talent to make a run and obviously didn’t do that.”
With a quintet of graduates moved on from the program, Grose will look to field replacements heading into the spring campaign.
A pair of talented seniors return to lead the Panthers in Coltin Jett and Conor Stockton.
Jett, a pitcher and infielder, hit .345 during the fall season with 1 home run, 17 runs batted in and 13 steals. On the mound, he threw 37 innings and compiled a 4.69 earned run average.
“Coltin’s role changed a lot this fall (we have a fall season),” Grose said. “He is now expected to be our leader on the mound and hit in the middle of the lineup. He had a really good fall and we hope that continues this spring.”
Stockton, a pitcher and infielder, threw 26 innings and recorded 28 strikeouts during the fall season.
“Conor’s role also changed a lot,” Grose said. “He is now expected to throw a lot more innings for us and also hit towards the middle of the lineup. He threw some quality innings for us in the fall and improved offensively. We hope both things continue this spring.”
Sophomore catcher Lucas Cutler also returns for the Panthers after hitting .304 in the fall with 11 runs batted in.
“Lucas improved tremendously this fall,” Grose said. “Lucas has the ability to be a really good baseball player. We hope he wants to step into that role.”
Following a fall season with the team, Grose expects a host of varsity newcomers to step in and compete for playing time this spring, as well, in Cash Graves, Michael Doyle, Levi Pellham, Carter Gregory, Luke Francka, Landon Tomlinson and Wayde Moore.
“Frankly, we had a bad fall season,” Grose said. “We are extremely young and inexperienced; however, we saw some drastic improvements during our last six games. Part of that is due to some adjustments and changes we made, and hopefully part of that is due to us becoming more comfortable with varsity baseball and our roles. We have the ability to do that again.
“We need to focus on having quality at-bats, getting on base, and hopefully getting a few big hits each game. We expect to be playing our best baseball at the end of the season.”
Following a March 17 home jamboree with Walnut Grove and El Dorado Springs, Marion C. Early opens its season March 20 at Dadeville.
