After losing in the Class 1A state championship last season, the Dove Creek High School baseball team is ready to return to the diamond and chase a state title.
Back for his second season the Bulldogs manager will be Curtis Garver, who, after two weeks of practice, is excited by what he has seen from his team.
“The first couple of weeks have been pretty good,” said the manager. “All the kids have been working hard and they have the right mindset. They know what it takes to get to the state championship and they want to get there again.”
Among the players who figure to play a prominent role on this year’s team will be senior all-state catcher Alex Ogas, led Dove Creek in batting last season with a .469 average.
Also figuring to play a key role on offense will be sophomore third-baseman Scott Gatlin, junior first baseman Spencer Gatlin, junior middle-infielder Kyle Schultz and junior middle infielder Case Baughman.
“We’re going to be aggressive at the plate this year,” said Garver. “Every single person up and down the lineup should be able to hit the ball.”
On the mound, Dove Creek will be led by junior Colin Hobbs, who pitched in games last season. Junior Jordan Ernst will also see significant time on the mound after a shoulder injury prevented him from pitching for the majority of last season.
“I have a lot of pitchers this year, so that’s good,” said Garver. “We’re going to use our depth and rotate a lot of players onto the mound.”
As for Dove Creek’s goals for the upcoming season, Garver said that he hopes that the Bulldogs can improve over the course of the regular season and once again play for a state championship.
“We play bigger schools than us most of the year and those games are important, but we need to be smart,” said Garver. “I want to be right back in that championship game this year.”