Carvers Bay Starts Baseball Regular Season 0-2, But Coach Says They Have Good Potential Moving Forward
By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
Hemingway—Coming out of the gates at 0-2 ,to start the 2025 regular baseball season, was not the plan in the mind of Carvers Bay head coach Shawn Patrick but he is optimistic his team will rebound and find success.
“I am convinced that if we start playing up to our potential, we can beat the majority of the teams on our schedule,” said Coach Patrick. “However, now that we are 0-2, we have some catching up to do.
“It was a bit unfortunate that we had to start the season against two region opponents,” said Coach Patrick. “We had scheduled three scrimmages to get ready for the season, and then two of them got cancelled due to bad weather so that in itself was a little bit of bad luck.
“Errors have been killing our chances for success also and our pitchers are walking too many batters,” said Coach Patrick. “When you walk batters, not only are you giving the opposing team free base runners, you are driving up the pitch counts of your pitchers. We need to start pounding the strike zone.”
The Bears began the season with a 7-1 loss to Johnsonville. Then in the second game of the regular season they lost a highly competitive game to Green Sea-Floyds 5-4.
“I was very proud of junior pitcher Clark Jones who came into game against Green Sea-Floyds in the middle of the first inning and he pitched 6 2/3 of innings with 14 strike-outs and I was very proud of his efforts on the mound,” said Coach Patrick. C. Jones has 23 K’s in 14 innings pitched so far this season.
Clark Jones, (L-R) is also leading the team at the plate with .278 average and he bats in the third slot in the order. He starts at shortstop when he is not on the mound. “Clark is also playing very well on defense, but his pitching has been outstanding,” said Coach Patrick.
The lead-off batter for the Bears is senor starting second baseman Kimbell Edwards. Junior Brantley Jones is batting in the two- hole and starting mostly as a catcher but he can also play third or shortstop.
“Brantley is starting off the season a little slow at the plate but I expect his bat to get hot any day now and he is one of the best contact hitters on our team,” said Coach Patrick.
Sophomore first baseman Myles Matthews bats clean-up. “He can really barrel up the ball well,” said Coach Patrick. “He has great potential to be a good long ball hitter.”
Junior center fielder Carson Thompson bats in the five- slot. Thompson leads the team with four stolen bases and he has good wheels in the outfield.
Junior Kendall Moore bats in the 6th hole and he has had some great catches since being recently moved to left- field. Sophomore Bryant Garman bats in the 7th slot in the order and he has caught the Bear’s last two games. “He is displaying solid defense behind the plate,” said Coach Patrick.
Sophomore Carson Lewis, batting in the 8th slot, has pitched some this season, and he mainly plays third base. Freshman Landon Marsh starts in right field and bats in the 9th slot. Marsh had a double against Green Sea-Floyds.
“We have had a little sickness amongst our players this season and because of this our line-up often varies from game-to-game,” said Coach Patrick. “For example, Edwards got sick right before the Johnsonville game and 8th grader Nolan Williams went in to play second base and under the circumstances he did a good job.”
Sophomore Haden Cooper was recently moved up from the junior varsity and he is providing depth at several positions. First year freshman varsity player Trevion Parrott is a reserve utility player along with junior outfielder/designated hitter reserve Javion Palmer, a junior.
“Miles Matthews is filling well at several positions and getting an inning on the mound here and there,” said Coach Patrick. “Also, sophomore Clarkson Lewis has been effective on the mound coming in in relief.”
Coach Patrick summed up his feelings about the 0-2 start like this, “I know this team has great potential and while none of us are pleased to be 0-2 right now, we are not in a panic mode either.”
Coach Patrick is assisted by Garrett Howard and Rick Smith.
