Senior-heavy OCA Eagles looking to finish strong
There will be a bit of a role reversal with the Oakwood Christian Academy High School baseball team this season.
After serving as head coach since the inception of the program, Kraig Givens will assume an assistant’s role this year, while long-time assistant Allen Taylor will take his seat at the head of the table.
“Kraig and I have been coaching together for about six years now,” said Taylor, who has been associated with Oakwood Christian Academy on several different levels for 15 years. “We’re familiar with each other’s styles and those styles compliment each other’s. All of these young men know how to play this sport. They know what to do, so it’s just a matter of putting it together when they get inside the lines.”
Taylor said he planned to take a positive, encouraging approach with the team.
“Not that Kraig wasn’t (positive and encouraging),” Taylor reiterated. “I want them to be relaxed out there and I want our guys to have fun. There can be a lot of game-time stress and we want them to know that (that stress) can be overcome so they can use their talents in a special kind of way.”
Taylor said the strength of this year’s team was simply that — being a team.
“These boys have been together for many, many years and I’ve coached some of these kids for a long time now, even back to when they were six or seven years old,” added Taylor. “They understand what it’s like to play together as a team. We saw that this past season with basketball. They finally started clicking together and we hope that it just rolls right into baseball.”
The Eagles’ basketball team finished as the Southern Christian Athletic Association runners-up and many players on that team have made the quick transition to from the hardwood to the diamond. Taylor believes that recent experience will benefit his players as the new season goes on.
“I think it’s just going to make them want it that much more,” he added. “We had a lot of success in basketball and I think these kids see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think it will create a unity within them and make them want to fight to the end.”
Oakwood will take the field with six seniors. Garrison Baggett can play centerfield, first base or in the middle infield and has proven himself to be one of the top athletes in the entire conference. Veteran Phillip Davis will play third base and do some pitching, while he will also be a key member of the lineup, batting out of the cleanup spot.
Cory Taylor — the coach’s son — will be the team’s primary catcher, though he will also see time at first base and on the mound. Joseph Mauk, a home-schooled student, will also see time at catcher, while Tyler Epperson and Jacob Jones will both primarily play in the outfield. Jones will also see some time at third base, while this is Epperson’s first year with the baseball program.
The junior class consists of returning second baseman Chase Lanham, shortstop/pitcher Jacob Wellwood and centerfielder/first baseman Andrew Phillips.
The rest of the team will be made up of sophomores. Zac Moore, Simon Jones, Caleb Epperson and firstyear player Andrew Cooper will all play in the outfield with Jared Haney set to log time at first base. Epperson will also see time at first and Moore will see some innings behind the plate.
Taylor said the key to the season was his team being able to finish.
“I challenged them in the very first practice,” he began. “At some point, we’ve got to learn how to take it home. We feel like we have a team that is put together enough to bring it home. Now, can they finish strong, put all of the outside distractions behind them and go out and do what they were created to do?”