March 25
March 25, 2009
Vernal Oliver Sr.
March 27, 2009
In high school sports, the early part of the schedule is meant to prepare teams for district competition.
The Morgan City Tigers baseball team seemed to have come out the gate in mid-season form after a 10-0 start.
But something was amiss as the Tigers lost three out of four games in one week.
“We had a lot of distractions that week,” said Morgan City head coach Richey Garrett. “I take full responsibility for not having the kids ready to play.”
The coach would not specify what distracted his club. Whatever it was must have passed as Morgan City won its final two non-district games by a combined score of 31-7 last weekend at the E.D. White Cardinal Classic.
“I knew we’d get back on track,” Garrett said. “We’ve been playing pretty well this season. It just wasn’t there during a stretch. That’s why you play so many (non-district games) – to get it out of your system. Hopefully, we got it out.”
Morgan City was 13-3 heading into yesterday’s District 8-4A opener against last year’s Class 4A state runner-up, the Archbishop Shaw Eagles. (For the final score, visit us online at www.tri-parishtimes.com.)
In a district where Shaw and Vandebilt Catholic battle for supremacy and four of the six teams make the playoffs, the Tigers believe this is the season they can challenge for the district title.
Morgan City progressed to the quarterfinal round of the playoffs last year. The only key member lost from that team was Grant Dozar, who is currently at LSU.
“Our guys have that playoff experience now,” Garrett said. “We’re hoping to build on that this year and take that next step in advancing in the playoffs.”
The coach credits the seven Tiger seniors – Jaron Bailey, Devin Duval, Thomas Ledbetter, Tyler Miller, Clint Navarro, Adam Rhodes and Ty Thomas – for the team’s hot start. He said they have provided great leadership for younger players and has allowed the team to gel.
“Our greatest asset is probably the team chemistry,” Garrett said. “Everybody steps up at a different time. When one person is down, another person is going to step up. That’s what has been happening.”
The coach would like to see his team play better defensively as district season arrives. During their three-of-four game losing skid, errors cost the team the lead in all those games, according to Garrett.
On the mound, Bailey is the ace of the pitching staff and terrific defensively, snatching groundballs hit up the middle. He has already signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Jones County Community College in Ellisville, Miss., next spring.
“He’s crafty. He doesn’t overpower hitters,” Garrett said. “He puts the ball in different locations and uses his off-speed pitches well.”
While nobody in the rotation stands out as a college prospect, Garrett believes the rest of the pitching staff has been “holding their own.”
At the plate, Morgan City is not a threat to blast many home runs. Small ball is how the Tigers earn most of its runs, base hits and the occasional bunt to move the runners into scoring position.
“We put the ball in play and force the other team to make mistakes,” Garrett said.
The coach is also not afraid to make a drastic move when something is not working.
Two weeks ago, Thomas, the usual leadoff hitter, wasn’t getting on base. So Garrett dropped him from first to ninth in the lineup.
“Ty was struggling, so we put him down in the lineup so he would see some better pitches,” Garrett explained. “We were just trying to get his confidence back. We started that in the Zachary Tournament (March 15) just to get a feel for how he would perform. He got a couple of hits (Thursday against South Lafourche), so I think he’ll be ready to go back to the leadoff.”
Garrett is anxious to see if his club’s hot beginning translates into contending for the District 8-4A championship.
The fight to be the top team should be very intriguing, particularly with Vandebilt Catholic. Last year, the road team won all three games – two regular season matches and one playoff games, including Morgan City’s 3-2 victory that eliminated the Terriers from the playoffs in the regional round.
“We won both games over there, and they beat us at home. I hope that means something because we have to go to them twice this season,” Garrett explained. “We’ll find out how good we are when we play Shaw. That’s the test right there. We’re going to measure ourselves with that game and see how we fare.”
Morgan CIty Tiger third baseman Clayton Williams tries to apply the tag during the Tigers’ 10-6 loss to South Lafourche. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF
