It looked like it might be a long season for French Camp baseball when the Panthers were defeated by Eupora 10-0 and Starkville Academy 9-0 in jamboree games.
“We looked terrible. Couldn't throw a strike,” said coach Nathan Wright.
But once the season started for real, French Camp did a 180, rolling to a 6-0 record before the Coronavirus pandemic put a halt to the season.
“It has definitely been an uncharacteristic start for us,” Wright said. “We typically are one of those teams that start slow, a little behind everybody. Then we kind of gel, get some confidence, and figure it out.”
The gelling came early this year, thanks to an offense that has produced 64 runs and a team batting average of .335. “We had a lot of kids who were playing at a high level,” Wright said. “It was tremendously exciting to start that way, knowing that we weren't at our plateau. We hadn't peaked yet. We were getting better and better.”
That's why the thought of no more baseball is so disheartening. The Mississippi High School Activities Association officially called a halt to the spring sports season last week.
“It's most disappointing because I have a lot of seniors,” Wright said. “For them not to be able to finish bothers me the most.”
The Panthers had production up and down the lineup, with three players batting over .400, three more over .300 and a seventh at .294.
Senior Seth Box has been the standout while pitching, catching and playing third. He is batting .368 with team leading totals of four homers and 12 RBIs. On the mound, he's 3-0 with a 1.37 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 15.1 innings.
In a 6-0 victory over Eupora, the same team that 10-runned the Panthers at the jamboree, he doubled, homered, drove in two runs and pitched a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts.
“He was swinging it well,” Wright said. “That's what really hurts, when a kid has found his groove and bam, it's taken away.”
Box is far from a one-man team. Cody Perry, a sophomore, is leading the team in hitting at .474 (9-19). Javen Anderson and Holt Barlow are both at .412, Adam Atkins .375, Bradley Edwards .333 and Jarren Holmes .294. All are seniors. Sophomore Macon Bentley is only batting .222, but he has a homer, four RBIs and has scored eight runs.
Wright had praise for several other players. He said Edwards has done a great job at catcher while sharing duties with Box. “He was beginning to solidify himself at the position.”
Anderson has been a standout in centerfield. “He was making awesome catches running down balls.”
Holmes, a lefty has pitched and played first base.
“I have a couple of middle infielders, Macon Bentley and Adam Atkins, who were playing lights out.” Atkins is also 2-0 with a 0.58 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 12 innings.
“It was just a lot of fun seeing these guys competing at such a high level,” Wright said,
None of his players have signed with a four-year or junior college and Wright is concerned that the possibility of no more games might prevent someone from earning a scholarship. “Most kids would have signed already, but there are always kids who get noticed during the year. I may have mentioned them, but it doesn't matter until someone else sees them and says 'Hey that kid can play.' That has happened several times through the years when somebody saw them play and they were able to get scholarships.”
