Midway through the summer baseball schedule, Choctaw County coach Andy Young is pleased with his team's progress.
Coming off a four-win season with a young team, Young expects improvement. “We're older and more experienced.”
Players who have impressed include Carson Betts, a catcher who will be a junior in the fall, and a couple of rising sophomores, Trace Beard and Connor Jewell.
Betts is doing the catching because Micah Gammil, this year's starter as a freshman, is sitting out the summer season with a concussion.
Beard played first base for the Chargers this year, but has been moved to third for summer games. Jewell is a utility player. “He can play anywhere,” Young said. “He can pitch and play in the infield and outfield.”
One area that needs improvement is pitching. “Our pitching has got to get better,” Young said. “We're going to have to throw strikes. I don't have any guys who can throw 90 miles per hour. We're going to have to pitch to contact and play good defense.”
The summer schedule concludes June 27. Most of the players will play football in the fall.
“The ones who don't play football will run cross country for me,” Young said.
