When it came to evaluating the state of his program, Brent Hall was brutally honest. He says last year, when Houston’s five wins were the fewest in his two decades at his alma mater, he was sucked into some of the struggles that have plagued HHS athletics.
“I did a poor job last year,” he said. “I’ve never experienced that and didn’t know how to handle it. Instead of pushing more, I took on the attitude at times of what our culture has become here.”
He said it won’t happen in 2018.
“I’ve taken on the attitude this year that I’m not going to let that happen again,” Hall said. “We are going to get this program back where it needs to be, and that all starts with me.”
Hall is determined to restore the HHS baseball program to its winning ways. After not experiencing a losing season until 2011 – a span highlighted by a second-place finish in the state in 2007 – Hall has seen his teams struggle to below .500 marks in five of the last seven years.
It won’t be an immediate change, Hall said, but with a lineup of several players with varsity experience, he hopes this season is a step back in the direction the program belongs.
“We still need to get better at everything. Let’s be real, we won five games last year,” Hall said. “We’ll be improved because a lot of our guys gained valuable experience. But when you only win five games, you’ve got a long way to go.
“Everything needs to be more consistent. We have to throw more strikes, field the ball more consistently and put the ball in play.”
PDF: Downloadable 2018 HHS baseball schedule
This year’s team is anchored by a pair of returning players who earned all-conference honors a year ago.
Senior Gavin Alston, who will play both the infield and outfield, led the Tigers in hitting and runs scored in 2017 to earn second team honors. First baseman Sterling Jackson hit .317 as a freshman and led the team with 19 RBIs and five extra-base hits to receive honorable mention.
Alston and Jackson will hit first and third, respectively, in the lineup. Sandwiched between them is senior Ty McCloud, who returns as the starting center fielder.
Freshman Alex Castleman will bat fourth and sophomore Connor Wilson, the team’s returning catcher, will hit fifth.
The rest of the lineup will feature a variety of different players depending on that game’s starter, Hall said. Among them are right fielder Hunter Stilley, infielder and catcher Cody Allen, first baseman Brecken Adey, utility player Nick Swanson, third baseman Braedin Groff and sophomore Jacob Koch, who started at shortstop in the team’s second game Saturday.
“We have a lot of moving parts to put people in different places,” Hall said.
The pitching staff will be led by Groff and Jackson, who return after their first varsity seasons on the mound in 2017. Jackson led the Tigers with 30 strikeouts in 20 innings and Groff tied for the team lead with two victories
Castleman will also be part of the starting rotation. He earned the complete-game win –– allowing two hits and two earned runs while striking out six in three innings –– in Houston’s 21-2 victory Saturday against St. Paul.
Swanson, who ranked second on the team with 23 2/3 innings pitched last season, and Wilson will be spot starters and provide relief.
Hall said the pitching staff as a whole should be stronger due to the experience Groff, Jackson and Swanson gained last season.
“Last year was a perfect storm in a bad way. We had a lot of inexperience and everything fell into place negatively. It was a bad year,” Hall said. “We’re looking to move forward – not to dwell on the past but to try to build around a lot of good, young kids.”
The Tigers opened the season over the weekend going 1-1 in the Eminence Wood Bat Tournament. They bounced back from a 3-0 loss to Eminence on Friday with a dominating win against St. Paul.
On Tuesday, HHS blanked Cuba 2-0 to kick off the State Farm Wood Bat Tournament.
Hall said the mental part of the game will be the most important one for his team to find success in 2018.
“When you are trying to rebuild and regain your winning ways, sometimes it’s not always the scoreboard where you are winning,” he said. “It’s moments or parts of games that you are coming through when you haven’t before. We will try to stack them all up little by little, and hopefully you’ll have something you can be proud of.”