Jessieville aims for return trip to state

The Jessieville Lions hope to make a return trip to the state tournament this season under first-year head coach Ryan O’Neal. “I’m ready to start to see where we are at,” O’Neal said. “It’s a good feeling and a nervous feeling all at the same time.” O’Neal, who has been the assistant at Jessieville for the past nine seasons, said Jessieville graduated four seniors from last year’s team, two of whom are now playing college baseball. “We are hoping to put more pressure on people offensively, by stealing and different things like that,” O’Neal said. “We want to play a little more aggressively.” Returning this year are senior starters Logan Perkins, Adam Saveall and Bryan Morgan. “We’ve definitely got some returning starters, and I am looking forward to them taking more of a leadership role,” O’Neal said. Saveall, who batted .315 last year with 18 runs scored and 15 RBIs, split time between catcher and pitcher, and the coach said Saveall “has one of the strongest arms, as far as pitching.” “Logan [Perkins] has an extremely strong bat,” O’Neal said. “When he is on [as a pitcher], he’s very hard to get solid contact against.” In 2017, Perkins had a batting average of .304 in 25 games with 20 runs scored and 13 RBIs. Senior Dalton McClard, with a .216 batting average with 13 runs scored and 10 RBIs, is extremely focused on what he is working on, O’Neal said. “He doesn’t do anything fancy,” the coach said. “He just throws strikes. It is real hard to unravel him.” In five starts, McClard posted a 2.08 ERA and a 2-2 record with 23 strikeouts and 15 walks. Saveall made 14 appearances in 2017 with a 2.88 ERA and 26 strikeouts and 17 walks. O’Neal said senior Bryan Morgan stepped up big-time last year following an injury to Kaleb Moody — who now plays outfield at North Arkansas College in Harrison. “[Morgan] hit a home run in his first at-bat,” O’Neal said. Morgan played in 15 games, tallying 8 runs and two RBIs. “I think we are going to have a season similar to last year,” O’Neal said, “where we have one kid who is pretty dominant and makes the team go, and we ride them all the way to the state tournament. “This year is going to be very much the same way. We just have a few more to go with him that we can kind of ride as well.”