The first few weeks of baseball practice were some tense times for Emporia High senior Cole Armitage.
The Spartans entered preseason practices with the task of trying to replace six senior starters off last year’s State tournament squad, and for Armitage, a pitcher who said he liked to “go out there and get a lot of ground balls and let my defense work for me,” the early returns made him a little uneasy about who would be working behind the mound.
“It was a little nerve-wracking early on,” Armitage said.
However, as the days wore on, Armitage began to notice his teammates were making more plays and there was more competition at the infield spots, which in turn helped to assuage his concerns.
“I’ve been watching them all practice, and everyone is coming around,” he said. “Confidence will come with that. I think we’re going to be pretty good.”
With a core of nine seniors on this year’s squad combined with a small-but-experienced group of juniors and a talented sophomore class, the Spartans hope to do more than just make an appearance in the State tournament like last year, when they fell to No. 1 seed Bishop Carroll in the opening round.
“Our philosophy is every year, we want to go to State, and that’s going to continue to be our philosophy every year,” EHS coach Mike Strickland said. “We don’t want to be one of these teams that only go once every 10 years. We want to make it where we’re a contender every single year.”
If there is a word to describe what the 2007 team might look like, it very well could be “versatile.” While Armitage will be called upon to be a leader on the mound, guys like senior center fielder Robert Keisler and senior catcher Taylor Clark could be asked to pitch more innings than they ever have this season, while a number of other players will see time at multiple positions.
“This year, a lot of guys are going to be asked to fill some different roles,” Strickland said. “A lot of guys are going to have to move around and be versatile.
“That’s one of the biggest assets of this team. We’ve got guys that can play four or five different positions, which is good.”
Perhaps one position that is fairly squared away is at first base, where senior Jared Johnson looks to have a solid hold on his spot after breaking into the starting lineup late last season.
Johnson said he made it a point to improve every facet of his game since taking over the starting job last season.
“At first base, there’s a lot of things to work on,” Johnson said. “You can potentially be involved in every play. You’ve always got to be on your toes. At the plate, I want to have a more focused approach. You’ve got to be able to go with the pitches and hit them to all fields.”
The four juniors on the squad — Michael Knight, Scott Peterson, Harrison Stone and Seth Torres — all are expected to figure heavily into the lineup this season, while a sophomore class filled with young talent has given way to plenty of competition at virtually every spot on the team.
“We’ve got a lot of battles going on right now,” Strickland said. “Some sophomores are battling some juniors and some seniors for some spots. I haven’t made a bunch of decisions on some positions just because we’ve got some guys that are stepping up and doing a real good job and pushing for some spots.”
On the mound, the Spartans will look to Armitage — who has already signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Barton County Community College next year — to be their ace, with senior Jared Krause, Clark and Keisler providing backup arms.
“Pitching is going to be a big deal,” Johnson said. “There will be a lot of younger guys who will have to step up, and some seniors who haven’t pitched very many innings will have to put in a few more this year.”
Throwing a kink into the Spartans’ season — at least in the early going — is the ongoing construction at Soden’s Grove where EHS plays its home games. With new sod recently put down behind home plate and in front of the dugouts, the field will be unusable for about 30 days, meaning the Spartans will be playing their home games at Trusler Sports Complex, the home of the Emporia State Hornets.
No matter where they’re playing, though, the Spartans are excited to get the 2007 season underway.
“I’m getting hungry for it to start,” Armitage said. “We’ll be ready to come out and battle.”
Emporia opens its season at 4 p.m. on Friday at home against Washburn Rural at Trusler Sports Complex.