Phoenix hoping to improve on last season
♦ Sonoraville returns nearly everyone from team that won school record 23 games in ‘22
The 2022 season was one of the best in school history for Sonoraville.
The Phoenix, with 23 wins, registered the most in a single season in school history. They ended Ringgold’s three-year stranglehold on Region 6-3A by knocking them off to start the league schedule. And senior pitcher Trevor Childers set a school record for wins in a season in going 11-0.
And they did all that with a young team that had experienced players all over the field, but just four seniors on the roster.
The fly in the soup though was the way things ended.
After sweeping Oconee County on the road in the first round of the GHSA 3A playoffs, they took a 1-0 lead over Pike County to start the Sweet 16 best-ofthree series round, but couldn’t get that second win and lost Game Three by an 8-7 score to Pike County, who would go on to win the GHSA 3A state champion in May.
And that type of finish, with all the good players they have back this year in the dugout, has Sonoraville head coach Deron Walraven talking in terms of his team having “some unfinished business.”
“Things are going well,” Walraven said. “We’ve got all the guys out there except for a couple of basketball players and a couple of wrestlers, but practices are going good. The kids have been motivated and working hard. I think the success we’ve had these past two seasons has lit the fire under them to take this thing as far as we can go or even farther than we have the last two years.
“And that’s what we’re expecting. We have a good group of seniors returning. They have a lot of experience over the last two years. I feel like we have a strong junior class. I just feel real good about this group and what we can do. I feel like the sky’s the limit if we go out and play the game like we’re supposed to.”
He said they can dwell on what happened against Pike County last year or use that to fuel what they do this year. The coach said he believes his team will go with the latter.
“We feel like there is some unfinished business out there for us,” Walraven said. “We had them beat in that third game and things didn’t fall our way in the last couple of innings, but our guys realize we were right there. And I feel like it showed them and it showed everyone that we’re just as good as anybody out there. It was a tough way to end it, but now it’s a new season and we’ve got a new chance to do some good things and I think we can.”
Outfielder Zach Lyles, outfielder/ pitcher Kannon England, infielder Dawson Townsend, infielder Coy Godfrey, pitcher/outfield AJ Hensley, pitcher/ infielder Easton Childs, outfielder/ catcher Jackson Balliew, and pitcher/ infielder Zevyn Ferguson made up the junior class last year that Walraven and his staff are expecting big things from this year as seniors.
In addition, they had a number of talented sophomores who are now juniors including shortstop Jaxon Pate, catcher Brock Clements, third baseman/pitcher Ty Brown, outfielder Luke Caldwell, infielder Joey Van Dyke, and first baseman Dalen Belcher.
In short, they have a lot of varsity experience and they have it in quite a few areas across the diamond.
“We feel really good about the guys we’ve got coming back,” Walraven said. “We had a small senior class, but those kids did a great job for us. But this group, they have a chance to create their own mark on the program. I really believe that. So we’re looking forward to the season and our first scrimmage at Ringgold. Hopefully the weather will cooperate these first couple of weeks and let us be able to play.”
They are also excited about their new field, which they will unveil to the public on Tuesday, February 21 when they host Adairsville. Their second game in the shiny new facility will be Friday, Feb. 24 when they host Calhoun in the neighbors’ only scheduled meeting of the season.
Walraven said he couldn’t be more pleased with the new digs. But as of late last week, they still weren’t able to take real advantage of it because of all the recent storms that have rolled through the county.
“We’ve only been able to get out there once (through the first two weeks) because of this weather, but we’re doing what we can to practice,” he said. “We’re doing what we can right now. The indoor facility we have really helps on these rainy days, but when we can get out there, we’re going to get out there.
“But we’re very excited about this new facility. The field is in great shape. The entire facility is beautiful. They did a first-class job. Everything about it is top notch and we couldn’t more exited about it. We’re definitely looking forward to playing games on it.”
Just like every team before them, the one question for the new season is the rise in the level of competition they will face as they are now in Region 7-4A after being in the 6-3A for the past few years.
Walraven said he believes his kids will be just fine.
“Cedartown had a real good team last year and they got a lot of kids coming back,” he saiad. “And they have a couple of Division One (college) commitments and signees on their team. And I know that everybody will be tough and we’ll have to be ready to play, but we feel like we’re as good as anybody out there. Just stick someone in front of us and let’s go.
“To me, baseball is a game where you play baseball. You don’t play the team in the other dugout so that team that is going to field it and pitch it and hit it better is going to win, no matter who
it’s against. So that’s the way we’re looking at it. We need to pitch better than the other team. We need to field it and catch it better than the other team and we need to hit it better, so that’s what I feel like we need to do. Yes, the schools are bigger. The crowds will likely be bigger, but I feel like we’re ready for them.”
The Phoenix are scheduled to play their only scrimmage Friday, Feb. 10 when they go to Ringgold to face their previous Region 6-3A rivals. Then they go to Adairsville on Thursday, Feb. 16 for their season opener before they unveil their new field Tuesday, Feb. 21 against Coosa. They be at Coosa two days later before returning to
Sonoraville on Friday, Feb. 24 to face the Yellow Jackets.
Walraven said there is still a lot to
get done for his guys between now and their trip to Tigertown.
“We’ve just got to continue working,”
Walraven said. “When we can get outside, that’s great, but when we can’t, we have to take advantage of
the indoor facility we have and make sure we get our work in. We need to get as many cuts in as we can and when we’re able to get on the field, we need to take advantage of those days fully in just executing the fundamentals of the game.
“We practice on the things that you’ve got to work on to win baseball games. We don’t want our players to put a lot of undue stress on themselves or any pressure on themselves by thinking we’re going to do things crazy. We just want to focus on doing things the way they should be done.
“Like swing at strikes, don’t swing at balls. Field the baseball. Catch the baseball. On the mound, throw strikes. Pound the strike zone. Just all little things you need to do to be successful at the game. Those are the things we’re going to continue to stress.”