FAYETTEVILLE — Fayetteville Tech baseball will enter the spring 2021 season with a 35-player roster, leaning on experienced leadership from a handful of returners and a deep pitching pool.
Despite the fall scrimmage schedule, usually a busy development time for the Trojans, being stymied by Covid-19, coach Jack Brown said the players have bonded in the months leading up to the spring.
“We’ve got good team chemistry,” said Brown, who took over as interim head coach in November. “The guys are like brothers. That’s our biggest strength.”
Brown said the team will look for leadership in its returners, including sophomores Jaiden Barker, Cyrus Jacobs, Johnnie Lowery and Evan Anderson. All four were a part of the Trojans’ 2020 season, which was halted after just 13 games due to the pandemic.
The Trojans boast a deep pitching pool, with 17 pitchers available for what Brown expects to be short appearances to start the season before developing into longer outings.
“It’s going to be like MLB where the hitters are way ahead of the pitchers at the start of the season because the pitchers aren’t quite ready yet,” the coach said. “I’ve told the pitchers that if they could give us two or three innings to start, that’ll be good until we can get them up to five or six innings.”
In the meantime, Brown expects the Trojans to hold their own offensively with opponents.
The Trojans begin play Feb. 6 with a scrimmage on the road at UNC Pembroke in what will be the team’s first outing in almost 11 months.
“The pulse of the team right now is that they’re tired of practicing themselves and having intrasquad scrimmages,” Brown said. “They’re ready to get out there and play.”