FAIRLEA- The Greenbrier East baseball team opens their new 2025 season this Wednesday against the Woodrow Wilson Flying Eagles and with that comes new expectations and title aspirations.
This year’s version of Spartan baseball brings back plenty of experience and a mix of young talent. Players like Zion Detko, Ashton Cochran, Nelson Lynch, and Layne Lambert are household names and there will be plenty of others that will be once the season begins.
This past weekend, the Spartans had two scrimmages. They lost to a good Herbert Hoover team 5-3 but rebounded with a dominant 12-2 win over Chapmanville.
Head coach Cory Mann is excited about what this year’s Spartans have the potential to do.
“We have a team I believe that we can be aggressive with,” Mann said.
“I’m looking for a team that plays up tempo and with intensity. I look for us to be able to open up the playbook this year and bring an exciting brand of baseball that will be highly entertaining for our community to come out and watch. Our strength is having the personnel to be able to apply pressure to other teams,” he continued.
Pitching is the biggest strength baseball teams can have. No matter how well a team hits, if they are giving up runs left and right, it never matters. Mann thinks his pitching staff–and the defense in the field– is where they need to be and will only get better as the season goes along.
“The thing I look for us to improve on as the year goes is our pitchers increasing their strike percentage. Our goal is 13 pitches or less in an inning. So I look for our pitchers to get better at attacking batters and letting our defense make plays behind them,” Mann explained.
Another strong asset for the team is their head coach. Mann has learned a lot the last several years as the head man and he continues to grow and adapt to what and how his team needs to be coached.
“I would say the thing I’ve improved on the most as a coach is reading the team and understanding how they need to be coached,” Mann stated.
“Every team’s make up is different and in order to get the best response out of the team you have to know how to manage that. So, it’s figuring out how to do that without lowering the standards of the program,” he added.
The schedule looks tough on paper with a lot of road games, but Mann has always scheduled teams that will make his Spartans better at the end of the year when the postseason gets underway.
“Our schedule is about the same (as previous years). I always try to put together a schedule that is challenging and will prepare us for the postseason,” Mann said.
Fans attending games may notice a small difference in the playing field this year as well. With success comes new equipment and that is what the baseball team was able to secure for this coming season.
“The big change at the field this year will be our John Deere infield groomer. Thanks to Angus Peyton, we were finally able to purchase one and it should be here soon. It may not sound really exciting to fans, but it will allow us to keep our infield dirt groomed and have a nice playing surface,” the coach said.
So, if fans are planning on going to Spartan Field this year to cheer on the baseball team, do it, because Mann promises an exciting brand that will keep everyone entertained.
“The community can expect to come out and watch a blue-collar, hard-working team that plays the game hard fast and loose. We are looking to create a lot of action on the base paths and create a brand of baseball that is exciting to watch,” Mann concluded.
2025 Roster:
