First-year Kosciusko baseball coach Derrik Boland is disappointed, but he understands why the MHSAA decided to cut his Whippets’ baseball team season short.
Before the season, Boland said he ideally needed around 10 games to fully gauge the strengths and weaknesses of his new team. Through 11 games, Kosciusko earned a 6-5 record.
“We were getting close,” Boland said. “I knew we had a team that had a lot of fight and a lot of grit. A team that was going to try to do everything they could to win a game. We had a bunch of tough guys, it was just a bunch of inexperience at the plate, really. We were very good defensively, very good on the mound, and when the season was halted, our bats were coming around. We were getting to be a pretty balanced team.”
Kosciusko earned wins against Greenville, Murrah (twice), West Point, Choctaw County and Grenada. It dropped contests against Ridgeland, Ethel, Neshoba Central, Eupora and Pearl.
Tyler VanCise carries a team-leading .406 batting average. Matthew Allen ranks second on the squad at .375, and Lucas Price has a .301 batting average. The Whippets as a team accumulated a .291 batting average.
“Every game, there’s been at least one of two different individuals who have done something big offensively for us,” Boland said.
On the mound, six Whippets’ arms combined to produce a 2.64 earned-run average to go with six wins and one save. Will Cook and VanCise both sport a 0.00 earned-run average. A trio of Whippets have sub-3.00 earned-run averages: Ethan Wood (1.11), Parker Ryals (2.13) and Nolan Yuille (2.42).
“Heath McBride, I know his ERA doesn’t show it, but he’s our bulldog on the bump,” Boland said. “We have three quality starters in Heath McBride, Nolan Yuille and Parker Ryals. Those guys have been outstanding in their starts. Heath, just, unfortunately, didn’t get any run support in the games that he pitched. Parker, as a sophomore, has done a great job on the mound. Seeing him do the things he’s done is impressive. Nolan is going to come out, and he’s going to throw three pitches for strikes and give us a chance.”
Boland said his squad tallied a .960 fielding percentage before the unexpected halt to the season. He credited much of that success to the contributions of Kosciusko seniors in their respective defensive positions.
“You have four seniors on the infield who are all leaders, then one senior in the outfield and a senior at catcher,” Boland said. “Evan Scott (catcher), handling our pitching staff, he did a great job.”
In the overall Region 4-4A standings, Kosciusko rested in third place behind New Hope (5-3) and leader West Lauderdale (9-2). Northeast Lauderdale, Choctaw Central, Louisville and Leake Central make up the rest of the seven-team region.
While Boland does not disagree with the MHSAA decision to suspend all sports activities this spring, he said he feels disappointed for the eight members of his senior class who might not return to the diamond again during their prep careers.
“My biggest thing right now is my heart goes out to our seniors,” Boland said. “I’m heartbroken for them. They all understand what’s going on. They’re all bright and smart kids who understand what’s going on, but at the same time, I still hate it for them. They deserve this, I wanted it for them, I think they had a shot to make a run at the end of the year.”
