MORGAN COUNTY
A new era for Morgan County High School baseball began this week with Steve Westmoreland now at the helm.
Westmoreland steps into a position with a loaded roster returning from last season’s region championship team. However, the new coach wants to implement his brand of baseball and philosophies into the program and told Lake Oconee News he has high expectations.
“Most importantly, we need to make sure we’re getting better every day,” Westmoreland said. “We need to build off the things we’ve been successful at the past two or three seasons, especially toward the end of last year. And also make sure we’re keeping our eye on the prize. Don’t feel like we’ve arrived. We’ve still got a long way to go before we consider ourselves a championship-level team. We need to take it one day at a time.”
Westmoreland is excited about the pitching staff he inherited, with Georgia commit Ty Tillery as the team’s ace.
“I think if we’re going to compete at a championship level, it starts on the mound,” the coach said. “We’re not going to shy away from that. Not only do we have some top-of-the-line guys; we’ve got some depth, too.”
Last year, Tillery won the Region 4-AAA Pitcher of the Year award as a freshman. The dominant right-hander led the Diamond Dogs in strikeouts (51) and the lowest earned run average (1.51).
Tillery isn’t the only option for Morgan County, though. The Diamond Dogs return Caylem Richardson, Skylar McCoy, Draco Frazzitta, and Davis Strickland in the rotation when Tillery isn’t on the mound. They also have another Georgia commit in sophomore Hudson Reed, a dominant right-handed pitcher.
“Ty (Tillery) is our mostknown commodity as a Georgia commit on the mound. Every time he is on the mound, we feel like we’ve got a chance to win,” Westmoreland said. “Hudson Reed has been good for us so far this preseason. And then we’ve got guys like Davis Strickland. He pitched well in the second round of the playoffs last year. We’ve also got two lefties, Caylem Richardson and Skylar McCoy, who have been great through the preseason. On the back end, we’ve also got Draco Frazzitta. He is going to finish games for us.”
Morgan County’s offense will be stout, with big bats like Reed, Tripp Lancaster, and David Denton all returning. Reed will spearhead a high-powered offensive attack that aims at hitting the ball out of the yard this year.
Westmoreland described Reed’s ability to hit the baseball as “different,” before adding depth in the lineup remains strong.
“Hudson (Reed) is the guy when people come to watch, they’ll notice he’s a little different. The ball comes off his bat well. He’s got plus power and most teams we play will probably try and work around him,” he said.
“David (Denton), Tripp (Lancaster), and Drew (Ainslie) have been very good in the preseason. Davis (Strickland) as well. We feel like we’ve got 12 guys that we can turn to. By the end of the season, I feel like we should have a deep lineup. There should be some sluggers at the bottom of the order just like at the top.”
Morgan County’s schedule is tough, with non-region matchups against Eastside, LaGrange, Jefferson, Oconee County, Mary Persons, West Laurens, and others. The strenuous slate will prepare the Diamond Dogs for region play and the postseason. Their biggest region competition is defending Class 3A champion Harlem.
Last season, Harlem went 37-1, with its only loss coming to Morgan County, which captured the region title. So, Westmoreland needs his players to keep a level head but wants them to also keep the momentum going.
“We’re excited about the opportunity for us to compete with somebody of that quality in our region. We have some opportunities on our non-region schedule that we can build toward playing a team of that caliber. I think it will be a challenge,” Westmoreland said. “Most people know it’s not the deepest region in 3A, but we’re excited about the competition Harlem will provide us. They’re the standard right now in 3A.”