By Malcolm Butler
Although Monday night’s season opener for the Cedar Creek Cougars wasn’t the start that the squad was hoping for, the real story is the start of the Chad Yates era with the program.
Creek (0-1) fell 16-0 to Class 5A Parkway.
But better times are on the way for the Cougars as Yates begins building a culture and a program that will attract players.
“We want to play competitive baseball,” said Yates. “We always set our preseason goals of winning district, making the playoffs and winning the state championship.”
Those goals maybe a few years away — only time will tell. But one thing is clear and that is Yates wants to return the baseball program to its glory days.
“As an organization, it’s about getting back to Cedar Creek standards,” said Yates. “We want to go out and compete each day at practice and prepare ourselves and give our best effort each and every time that we step on the field.
“The wins and losses will take care of themselves. That’s what we are preaching to our guys. As long as we take care of our business, those things will take care of themselves.”
This year’s Cougars have a mix of upperclassmen that will bring experience to the diamond as well as some underclassmen who will see significant playing time.
“We have a lot of young guys this year,” said Yates. “We do have six seniors and are fortunate to have them. All six seniors will be on the field at any time. We are going to have some underclassmen in the mix.
“I think our senior leadership will be a strength. All six (seniors) are very versatile. I am going to have to do a good job of putting the right guys in the right spots. It’s going to be a combination of our guys playing multiple positions and getting called on and being ready.”
The Cougars will have a number of arms on the mound this season, including the likes of seniors Ladd Thompson (RHP), Jackson Mock (RHP), Max Brister (RHP) and Noah Durrett (RHP), sophomore Gavin Hall (RHP), and freshmen Blake Bell (RHP), Kade Luker (LHP) and Connor Yates (RHP).
“Those guys figure to be out top guys that will a ton of the innings at the varsity level,” said Yates. “Pitching wise I feel very confident with our top five guys. We have several guys that can come in and play a role and give us some innings.”
Offensively, Yates said he feels that he has some bats that can produce this year.
“I do like the middle of our order,” said Yates. “I feel like lineup wise we match up very well with hitters one through six. I like the versatility of the team. I have some different lineups depending on who’s pitching.”
Blake Wade, Luker, Thompson, Trent Franklin, Mock, Yates and Hall should all be hitting in the top two thirds of the order, according to Yates.
“I really like the lineup and the versatility that we can go with,” said Yates. “I feel like we can hit with people and when we need to get that run, I feel like we have some guys who can put the bat on the ball.”
Creek’s game tonight against St. Mary’s has been moved to a home contest and will start at 6 p.m.
