Underclassmen lead way for Bulldogs
Last year, Conway St. Joseph baseball got hot at the right time, with the team making it to the 2A state finals in Fayetteville. “We were pretty blessed to get there,” head coach Luke Davis said. “We got the three seed out of district and the three seed out of regionals. If we had played the [state championship] the next day, we would have won the game. “But we had three freshman starters and two sophomores playing major innings. We were nervous and tight, and we never really relaxed all the way.” St. Joe has just one senior on the team but is returning two juniors and three sophomores who started, as well as two others who saw quality playing time. “They have a year of experience,” Davis said, “but my main pitching staff is going to be sophomores. … You don’t know how they are going to do, so we will find that out in the next couple of weeks.” Sophomores Ryan Davis, Timmy Coney and Caleb Hiegel will make up the primary rotation for the Bulldogs. “They know the game a little bit, and that is who I have the most confidence in right now,” Luke Davis said. He said Coney is a competitor. “He throws a lot better in a game than practice,” the coach said. “I trust him. In the state tournament in the quarterfinal game, he threw four big innings and shut the other team down.” The coach said Ryan Davis started a couple of games last year but mostly came in as relief. “He is a tall kid,” Luke Davis said. “He has really good mechanics and has really good
location on his fastball. … He is learning the game as he is going.” Davis described Hiegel as a natural athlete. “He has really good mechanics. He has a different arm angle than the others, and that will, hopefully, work out for him. He is just a competitive athlete,” the coach said. Davis said that last year, Hiegel and junior Jack Briggler were splitting time at catcher, but this year, the coach wants it to be a little more consistent. “Caleb will be mostly at short, when he is not pitching,” Davis said. “Jack will be my main catcher, but we will work with him and watch his arm so he is not catching and pitching too much.” Davis said Briggler understands the game well. “We are looking to him to be one of our better leaders,” the coach said. Junior Staton Holbrook is not a vocal leader, but he has a good work ethic, Davis said. “He shot up every day, and he leads by example,” the coach said. “He will start in center field for us. … He is going to be our most experienced outfielder. Davis said the biggest strength for the Bulldogs this year is going to be the experience coming back. “Even though we are young, we have that experience. We know what it is going to take to get back to the state tournament,” Davis said. “I’m not sure about our leadership yet. … I need people to step up and be my leaders.” Offensively, Coney and Ryan Davis are the two better hitters on the team, the coach said. Coney was third in batting average last year and second in home runs. Ryan Davis was fourth in average last year and third in home runs. “They both really came through last year as far as powerwise,” the coach said. Coach Davis said that with relying on such a young team to compete, every game will probably be a different type of adventure. “Every day, we have to show up with the attitude and drive to get better,” Davis said. “After and if that happens, we just need to get into the tournaments, and anything can happen from there.”