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High hopes: Sunnyvale baseball off to strong start
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
Sunnyvale entered the season ranked as the No. 4 team in the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association Class 2A state poll.
Through the early stages of the season, they have done nothing to disprove that lofty status.
The Raiders won two out of their three games at the Ponder Tournament last week to improve to 9-2 overall on the season.
With so much returning talent, that has meant the early portion of the season is more of a finetuning time rather than a roster overhaul.
"We have to solidify our middle infield to start the season," Arden said. "We have several young players that I think can fill the positions, but we will have to see if they can produce."
The Raiders have a solid 1-2 starting combination in Jake Wilcox and Wesley Phillips.
Wilcox was 10-1 last season with a 1.80 earned run average and 104 strikeouts. He also hit better than .300 at the plate.
Phillips hit .364 last season with four home runs and 29 runs batted in. When he is not on the mound, Phillips is the starting catcher and Arden said another of the early challenges will be finding someone to fill that position when Phillips gets the call to pitch.
Brock Taylor is coming off a season in which he hit .392 with four homers and 46 RBIs. Ryan Cottingame (.360), Devin DeLeon (.325) and Sam Shaver (.300) are other proven players.
There are several young players eager to make an impact, as well, including sophomores Brant Taylor, Conner Mears, Zander Thompson and Evan Adrian and freshmen Seth Metzger and Nathan Hawkins.
Sunnyvale crushed Farmersville in the 12-2A opener with a 22-2 victory last week and they are now entering the meat of the district schedule.
And while the Raiders are focused on the present, they are hoping their district run is merely a launching pad for bigger and better things down the road.
"Our goal and expectation is the exact same as it was last season. We need to be able to take the next step and get to Round Rock and the state tournament," Arden said. "We were one run away last season and I know its been eating at the guys all offseason. I think they will give their best effort all year."
Follow Devin Hasson on Twitter: @DevinHasson
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