By DAVID WOOD, for The Democrat
After multiple game delays due to inclement weather, the Brown County High School varsity baseball team took to the field again April 5 against Bedford North Lawrence at Eagle Park.
The Eagles came up short against the Stars, losing 1-4 in their fourth game of the season. The team’s record now stands at 1-3, with a packed schedule of eight games to be played in the following two weeks.
Ryan Wilcoxen, the 28-year-old head coach for the Eagles, remained positive despite the loss.
“I thought we competed very well with a really quality team. We hung in close and had a chance at the end,” he said. “That’s all you can ask for.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Wilcoxen highlighted the team’s resiliency as a positive takeaway for the night.
“We did well in showing some resiliency if we did make an error or had a walk,” he said. “We were in a couple tough innings there where it could have gone one way or the other, but we were able to shut it off and make a play.”
The Eagles showed additional heart from the dugout, despite the score deficit, as they lined the fencing in order to cheer on their teammates.
However, Wilcoxen followed up by addressing key elements the team should improve upon in preparation for the remaining season.
“One thing that we’ve tried to work on all year is getting ahead of hitters and eliminating the majority of our walks from the pitching staff, and also making the routine plays,” he said. “If you can make the routine plays and eliminate the freebies, then you’re going to have a good chance to compete and win ballgames.”
Despite recent weather interruptions, Wilcoxen plans on keeping with this line of training for the foreseeable future.
“This time of year it’s hard to get a lot of practice in, but we try to keep it consistent with making sure we’re keeping up with our conditioning and making sure we’re working the fundamentals of ground balls, fly balls, two-strike hitting and situational hitting,” he said. “We’re going to keep drilling that and drilling that, and hopefully we’re playing our best baseball towards the end of the season.”
When asked about the team’s upcoming schedule and potential matchups, Wilcoxen remained focused.
“We’re just taking it one game at a time right now and trying to be the best that we can be. We don’t try to look ahead past the next game … we’re looking at the day in front of us.”
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Sean Carney, Branden Leslie, Isaiah Luenebrink, Ben Neal, J.T. Parry, Justin Partyka, Cameron Payne, Jake Riehl, Cesar Ruiz, Eli Snyder, Grant Suding, Isaac Weddle, A.J. Weis, John Wayne Zeigler
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