COVINGTON, Ga. — Eastside’s baseball program is steeped in tradition. 

The Eagles have grown accustomed to 20-plus win seasons, top two finishes in their region in addition to being mainstays in the state playoffs. 

This year, however, the program welcomes lots of  “new.” 

A new coach, Eastside alumnus Cody Walker, takes the helm this season, and with him, the return of many young players who will play on a brand new home baseball diamond. 

Walker hopes these factors lining up is just what the program needs at this pivotal moment. 

“This is kind of like a foundational year,” Walker said. “There’s a new coach, a new field and some new guys coming in. It feels all new but, at the same time, these guys have helped me feel like part of them so quickly. So, it’s been easy to hit the ground running.” 

All of that aforementioned tradition was lost last spring when Eastside had its worst finish since 2010 — the 2020 COVID-19 impacted season notwithstanding.  

The Eagles finished 8-19 overall with a 5-9 record in Region 8-AAAAA, which caused them to miss the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. 

Nevertheless, Eastside has many components that give them hope for a return to its traditionally winning ways. 

Walker could not pinpoint even a handful of individuals who are set to be the leaders this year. However, Walker doesn’t see that as a bad thing. 

“We have a good core group of guys,” Walker said. “There’s a good group of seniors they’re being led by. Overall, we’re pretty young, and we’re feeling great.” 

The Eagles will begin their fresh, new 2023 season on Feb. 13 when they hit the road to face Madison County. Then, they will compete in the Newton Cup Diamond Day against Alcovy and Newton on Saturday, Feb. 18. 

Region 8-AAAAA play starts for Eastside when Loganville comes to town on March 10. 

Walker is excited to see how the team performs in 2023. 

“Anybody you see win any major championship doesn’t go through it with a breeze,” Walker said. “Even if we were the No. 1 team in the nation, there will still be hardships. It’s not about the good you do when you’re up, but how you respond when you’re down. And we’ll have some downs this season, that’s no secret, but it’s going to be how we bounce back to tell us what type of team we’re going to be.”