Greene County’s baseball team is young, but they’re learning fast.
The Tigers are playing a non-region schedule, which means they’re not eligible for the postseason, so the pressure to win is not at the forefront. While they want to succeed, head coach Brad Evans is trying to teach the basics.
Evans has emphasized to his younger players that if they continue to work on the fundamentals, they’ll be able to compete. He has also noticed that his team has progressed, and his players have started to develop at a fast rate.
“This season has definitely presented its fair share of challenges. Our team is very young,” Evans said. “We only have two seniors on the team and three players total who returned from the previous year.”
Evans highlighted that despite the team being young, a few players have stepped up as big-time contributors.
“We have leaned on our seniors KD Andrews and Jamarion Hill for sure, but we are also excited by the play of several of our freshmen,” he said. “Jordan Walton, Kayden Drake, Kaden Cummings, and Justin Knight have all made significant contributions to our team early into their Green County careers. We are really excited about this group of freshmen and sophomores and what they can do in the years to come.”
Evans acknowledged that baseball begins with pitching, and he wants his pitchers to throw strikes consistently.
Greene County has relied on Andrews, Hill, Walton, Drake, Knight, Lucas Edwards, and Quincy Robins on the mound this year. They have all been thrown into the fire numerous times and have logged many innings.
Evans stated that if the pitching improves, everything will fall into place.
“We always have room to grow in all areas of the game. I hope to see our pitching take a step up,” Evans said. “Winning baseball starts on the mound. I believe we have the guys to do it, but now it’s about putting in the work during the offseason to get the results we want.
"Our bats have improved relative to past seasons, and if we can combine that with some solid performances on the mound, we can start putting some wins together.”
This year, Greene County baseball has faced significant adversity, playing every game on the road. The Tigers have traveled to Augusta, Athens, Hephzibah, and Washington this season to play. However, their first home game of the season will be this Friday against Washington-Wilkes in the regular season finale.
The team’s field has undergone renovations over the past year, and they are close to completion. Evans and his players are excited to return to Greensboro and play the final game of the season at home.
“We have also had to navigate a second entire season playing on the road while our home field underwent major renovations,” Evans said. “We were hopeful to get some home games in this year, but [this Friday we will make that happen]. That being said, I believe our young team is growing together and will be battle-tested in more ways than one going into the rest of their time with us.”