Mansfield Senior baseball will focus on growth in 2023
MANSFIELD — There is no one who wants to see Mansfield Senior baseball in a better place than JR Davis.
The fourth-year head coach of the Tygers, Davis, a former player in the program, is ready to see success on the baseball diamond again. In 2023, he hopes to start taking positive directions towards building a sustainable program again.
The Tygers went 3-17 last season and winless in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. They only return four lettermen and four starters with eight players lost to graduation from last year's team. So, the Tygers will be young and inexperienced, but that might be a good thing as Davis enters his fourth season at the helm with a 6-36 record. Now, he has players who only know his philosophies and values within the game.
Now, he can start building.
"With no seniors on the team this year, the goal is to see who will become leaders of the team," Davis said. "The main goal has always been to be competitive and to fight hard in every game we play this year. With such a young team, seeing growth throughout the year will be important to where we can be playing our best ball going into the tournament."
The Tygers have multiple guys who will play multiple positions throughout the year. Sophomore Joshua Malone will be the Day 1 catcher with freshman Guy Trader taking over behind the dish with Malone is pitching. Sophomore Maurice Bradley will start at first base and junior Jake Zimmerman will play second base. Trader will play second when Zimmer is pitching.
Junior Justin Bland will start at third with Trader playing the hot corner when Bland is on the mound. Freshman Dominique Horn earns the start at shortstop and, you guessed it, Trader will play short when Horn is pitching. So, Davis has versatile players all over the place and will use them where he sees necessary.
Sophomore Grayson Sanders will start in left field with junior Quinton DeBolt in center and junior Sebastian Page in right.
Zimmer will be the team's Opening Day starter with Bland, Trader, Horn and Malone making up the rest of the staff.
Juniors Braylon Hess and Payton Furguson will both see plenty of varsity time as well.
"Jake is our returning second baseman and pitcher and has a year of varsity experience under his belt along with Josh Malone who comes bask as a versatile catcher who can also pitch. Justin brings experience back at third base and we are excited about our freshmen of Guy and Dominque who will both see time on the mound as well as multiple positions when we need them."
The Tygers went winless in the Ohio Cardinal Conference last season so one of the top goals on the list is to pick up a league win or two and build from there.
"I say it every year, I think the OCC is the toughest conference in the area for baseball," Davis said. "This league is so tough, especially for a rebuilding program like us. The addition of New Philly does not make it any easier for us either. However, playing these teams each week will prepare us for our non-conference schedule and tournament games."
While a league win would be great for the program, the Tygers will measure success simply on growth.
"Seeing growth with such a young team and hoping they maintain the grind of the growth by buying into what we are trying to build here throughout the season," Davis said to what the x-factor will be for this season. "We have a lot of kids that can pitch for us this year which will be a tremendous help throughout the season."
The Tygers begin the season on March 25 at Northmor.
jfurr@gannett.com
740-244-9934
Twitter: @JakeFurr11
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield Senior Tyger baseball focused on building program into a winner
