FAIRLEA- The Greenbrier East Spartans baseball team is all set to open the 2024 campaign this Saturday at noon when they host the Spring Valley Timberwolves at Spartan Yards in Fairlea.
After a 19-18 finish last season that ended in the regionals to St. Albans, and with a few critical player losses to graduation, the Spartans still return a plethora of talent and experience that should help keep them moving in the right direction without missing a beat.
Gone are Darris Boswell, Clayton Morgan, Henry Goodwin, and Ian Cline, to name a few, and that is some tough talent to replace. However, this year’s roster still looks good on paper.
Gabe Patton, a West Virginia Wesleyan commitment, and Gavin Bennett are back as seniors and will help on the pitcher’s mound and in the batter’s box. Ashton Cochran, Peyton DeHaven, Zion Detko, Layne Lambert, Eli Green, and Rylee Wilson have experience and will be relied on heavily to make things happen.
East head coach Cory Mann has kept the team on an upward trend since he took over a few years ago. The Spartans have been competitive and have challenged for championships during Mann’s tenure.
This season should be no different and right now, when everyone is 0-0, the opportunity is there for the taking and Mann is relishing that possibility.
“The community can expect to see an old school, gritty team that isn’t afraid to roll their sleeves up and go to work,” Mann said.
“We will play the game hard, fast, and loose, expecting to compete to the best of our abilities and make this community proud,” he added.
As the Spartans have learned in the last couple of years, once postseason play begins, they need more than one player at each position to step up and perform in critical situations. According to the head coach, that has been a talking point so far this preseason.
“The main things we need to do is continue developing depth. When you get into the postseason you have to be able to win series. That means you have to have pitching depth as well as depth in the position that the pitcher for that night usually plays. When series’ go all three games you better have the depth to be able to win the most important game of the season,” Mann explained.
“The other thing is the continual pursuit of baseball knowledge and knowing how to execute situations to set the team up for success. We have been stressing be able to do your job when it’s time for you to do your job. Nothing comes before TEAM. Leave the emotion out of it and EXPECT to execute in those situations,” he emphasized.
However, before the postseason arrives, that depth will be developed during the regular season. East is scheduled to play around 30-plus games again this year, weather permitting, and Mann likes him teams’ style of play to hold up through the gauntlet.
“We will be well balanced. The guys have put in a lot of work this off season and I look forward to seeing it translate to the field,” Mann concluded.
East’s 2024 roster (Varsity and JV) is below:
