High goals set for Eagles this season

The goals for the 2018 Conway Christian High school baseball team include winning district, and regional and making it to the semifinals of the state tournament. “The boys’ morale is pretty high,” coach Andrew Roberson said. “They know they can go out and achieve those goals. “They understand the game and want to achieve the goals they’ve set. It is not necessarily the coaches’ job to win those games, but I believe the team can, if they set their minds to it.” Roberson, who is in his sixth year as head baseball coach, said his team is quite capable of achieving the goals they have set out for themselves. “All these players have played a lot of baseball between them,” Roberson said. “Even though we lost that game [in the state tournament], we did gain a lot of experience. “I don’t think they will necessarily be put in a position where they haven’t been before, because most of them have. They just need to go out and execute.” Roberson said one of the biggest hurdles will be being more consistent at the plate. “We definitely need to be able to hit consistently,” Roberson said. “We had hit well up to that point, but that specific day, we did not hit the ball well. “I take personal responsibility for that as the coach.” Roberson said Conway Christian was able to put a bat on the ball but just couldn’t find the gaps. But in three games so far in 2018, the Eagles have improved on their consistency. “Our hitting is starting to shape up a

little better,” Roberson said. “We are just trying to find our identity at the plate and make sure our approach is correct.” Leading the way offensively are returning senior starters Jackson Quick and Winston Strawn and junior Jacob Wood. “Jacob is a three-star athlete,” Roberson said. “Whatever he picks up, he is going to excel at. He is just one of those athletes. “Jackson and Winston put a lot of time in baseball outside baseball. They work hard at everything they do.” Wood batted .424 last year with 40 runs scored, 4 home runs and 26 RBIs. Quick batted .422 with 18 RBIs and 42 runs scored. Last year, Strawn batted .418 with 43 RBIs, 17 runs and 2 home runs. “Those three are probably our best hitters,” Roberson said. Pitchingwise, juniors Nick Scherrey, Jacob Bowman and Jevin Callaway will be the top three in the rotation. “Nick solidified himself as our No. 1 and has come through in clutch situations,” Roberson said. “Jevin didn’t even play last year. He is coming back from a shoulder injury. “But it is always valuable to have a lefty, and he understands the game well.” Scherrey played in 17 games last year with an ERA of 2.86. He struck out 65 with 19 walks in 49 innings. In 2017, Bowman had an ERA of 2.95 with 25 strikeouts and 14 walks. “They can all throw very hard,” Roberson said. “Nick has a really good breaking pitch and change-up. He has three solid pitches he can throw. “Jacob has a lot of different pitches, but he throws the hardest when he is hitting his top velocity. Jevin has a good curveball and has a good two-seam fastball. They really keep the opposing batting lineup off balance.” Roberson said that over the past couple of years, when Conway Christian has lost, it was due to either a lack of timely hitting or to errors that have put the team behind. “We just have to make sure we take care of little things,” Roberson said. “Those things usually determine the winner of the game.”