Hawks baseball opens at home this weekend

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Huntingdon baseball coach D.J. Conville likes what he sees when he looks at this year's roster.

Coming off a 23-17 season and an appearance in the Great South Athletic Conference championship game, the Hawks are a mixture of experience and youth in 2012. Huntingdon returns its No. 1 pitcher and six players that started at least 20 games in the field last season. But with just two seniors among those seven players, youth is still a factor.

"We're dealing with a little of the known and the unknown going into the season," Conville said. "We're not a completely veteran team, but we have more experience than we did a year ago. We have a team full of sophomores and juniors and a small senior class.

"We're excited about what the year is going to bring. We think we have a grasp of who we are, but we still have some things to figure out. We're going to have to play to see exactly where we stand."

Huntingdon opens the season at Posey Field on Friday against Mississippi College. Weather permitting, the first pitch is set for 1 p.m. The two teams are scheduled to play again on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Conville has been encouraged by the competition he has seen from his players during the preseason. Huntingdon's eighth-year head coach feels like he has multiple players that can get the job done at most positions.

On the mound, 2011 GSAC Pitcher of the Year John Rice returns for Huntingdon. Rice enters his senior season with a 13-8 career record and 120 strikeouts.

"Rice was our No. 1 last year and our No. 2 the year before. He was All-Conference and All-Region last year," Conville said. "He is our established leader on the mound. The challenge for him is to continue to compete and produce at such a high level."

Rice is one of several pitchers Conville has been impressed with in the preseason.

"We've got a good combination of returning pitchers and newcomers," Conville said. "Josh Knuth, Parker Adams, Joseph Fincher and Tate Fowler are guys who have been here for a couple of years and will have to make some starts this season. We've got guys that have transferred in, like Craig Brown and Cory Belyeu, that are going to have to step up.

"Among the freshmen, Tyler Spivey, Marks Abernathy and Jordan Freeman are going to be called on to help us. Grant Lowman is another freshman with a lot of ability. He is coming off of surgery and we need him to step up and reach his potential."

Behind the plate, sophomore Joseph Odom returns after a stellar freshman season. Odom started every game as a freshman and was named GSAC Freshman of the Year.

"We're blessed at catcher," Conville said. "Odom started every game last year and he'll be our starter this year. But it's good to know we've got a couple of guys behind him that can fill in and do the job if he needs a break."

Returning players Caleb Astin, Austin White, Chad Baxley and Tyler Blackwell anchor the infield. Conville said Jordan Green, Kevin Plyler and Lucas Tucker are also competing for playing time.

"We're excited about our infield depth," Conville said. "We feel like we have a good group of guys that can get it done."

In the outfield, Evan Agnew, Keegan Lambeth, Grant Brown, Trey Smith and Seth Currie are the early leaders.

"We have five guys that can compete and do the job in the outfield," Conville said. "All five run well, can cover ground and can hold their own offensively. They're going to be almost interchangeable and are going to compete during the year. We want them to push each other and make each other better."