La Conner High squads make practice count

 

March 19, 2014

OUT! – La Conner’s Logan James picked off a Squalicum Storm runner on Saturday during the first game held at the new baseball field at the La Conner High School.                                                                                                                                    – Photo by Amylynn Richards

One La Conner High diamond team didn’t use a scorebook Saturday.

The other would just as soon not have.

The end result was pretty much the same, however. Head coaches Peg Seeling and Jeremiah LeSourd now have the means to measure early season progress made by their respective clubs, regardless of stats.

Seeling and the Lady Braves debuted at home with a multi-team jamboree format in which the emphasis was to practice game-type situations rather than put crooked numbers on the board.

“We don’t do stats for a jamboree,” Seeling explained afterward, “but I thought it went really well for the first time out this season. I got to look at some combinations of players, which was great.”

LeSourd, meanwhile, had the scoreboard turned on for the Braves’ non-league home opener against 2A Squalicum, a program with a much larger enrollment than La Conner’s.

The visitors broke in La Conner High’s new field with a 15-3 romp.

But all wasn’t lost for the Braves, as LeSourd, like Seeling, was able to juggle the La Conner lineup and see how younger players in particular responded to game conditions.

“We went with three new infielders and had two catchers working behind the plate for the first time,” Le Sourd noted. “We learned a lot and found out what we need to work on.”

Despite the lopsided final score, it was La Conner that struck first.

But ultimately it was a handful of errors and a slew of free passes — nine walks and four hit batsmen — that opened the floodgates for Squalicum.

LeSourd and Braves coaches Andy Otis and Tommy Peth were encouraged, though, with the hitting of key returnees Cameron Hansen and Hudson Zavala.

Hansen lined three singles in as many trips to the plate and drove in a run.

Zavala bashed a double in two at-bats.

The Braves, who entertained Meridian Monday afternoon, are slated to hit the road today, Wednesday, for a 4 p.m. date at Nooksack Valley and again on Friday for their first league test, against Cedar Park.

That contest is set to get underway at 3:15 p.m.

The Lady Braves squared off late Tuesday opposite Sultan, generally a strong non-league foe.

Seeling, well aware of what her veteran players can deliver, has used the first couple weeks of the season to assess a large corps of first-year prospects.

So far she likes what she’s seen.

 

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