The Eastside baseball program is looking to make another run at the state playoffs in head coach Cody Walker’s second season as the Eagles’ skipper.

Last season, the Eagles finished with a 14-16 record and a fourth place finish in Region 8–AAAAA with a 6-6 record. This translated to a playoff appearance where Eastside pushed a 29-5 Villa Rica squad to the brink before falling in a decisive game three.

The loss ended the Eagles’ season and marked the end of the road for eight seniors, including Colton Fincher, Isaiah Biggers, Brayson Osborn, Landon Black, Clayton Black, Dawson Petree, Brandon Ellis and All-Cov News Most Valuable Player, Blake Hughes.

With this, Walker and the rest of the Eagles’ coaching staff were intentional about developing the young players on the roster from the very beginning of the offseason.

“Going into the offseason, I knew we lost a lot of seniors, so my focus [for the team] was strength,” Walker said. “Getting stronger over the offseason as well as quicker and faster. We did strength and agility almost all winter as well as lift — we got into the weight room three to four times a week. As we got closer to time, we got more to the fundamental side.”

Despite the loss of eight seniors, the team still returns a handful of players that will be featured in the starting lineup.

All-Cov News First Team honoree Chase Jordan returns for his junior season after batting .333 with a .419 on-base percentage in 2024. Jordan also ended the year with First Team All-Region honors.

Another key returner for Walker this season is junior Payton Shaw, who played as an outfielder and a pitcher. Shaw was named to the All-Cov News Second Team, posting a 1.85 earned run average as a sophomore as the is only returning starter that pitched at least 10 innings last season.

“For us, we are looking at hopefully Payton being one of those strong guys that can show up [on the mound] every three to four games,” Walker said. “Other than that, it is going to be a committee.”

Going into the season, Walker was happy with what he had seen from his returners who were going to need to play a big role in helping the younger players in the dugout.

“Since we did lose so many, we have returners but returning starter-wise, I think we have three out there that started the majority of the year last year,” Walker said. “For them, [it was] just showing up during the offseason and putting the work in. It seems like they got stronger and faster but the big thing is their baseball IQ and just the urgency to back out here and get after it with this new young group of guys.” 

Many new faces are expected to make impacts for Eastside in 2025, such as Tripp Swords, Amond Sands and Parker Denmark.

Swords is a name that is gaining more traction as the freshman is set up to be a middle-infielder and a pitcher for Eastside. 

Nevertheless, Walker discussed how the team will need multiple new faces to break out if the Eagles want to make it back to the postseason.

“He [Swords] was with us last year as an eighth grader, he is one of those guys that will play short for us also, but we are really looking forward to him being a key piece as well as a bunch of these other young guys,” Walker said. “I know you hear it all the time — Tripp is going to help us tremendously, but he is not going to get us any further with just himself. A lot of these guys are first time varsity starters. You almost look at it as a positive. These guys are really eager to get out there and get after it.”

Another new aspect for Eastside in 2025 is its new region.

The Eagles still remain in a region alongside Flowery Branch(15-16 in 2024), but no longer have region matchups against Jefferson and the defending champion Loganville Red Devils.

Eastside’s Region 8-AAAA slate features North Oconee(29-9 in 2024), East Forsyth(18-9 in 2024), Walnut Grove(17-13 in 2024), Madison County(9-19 in 2024) and Cedar Shoals(4-24 in 2024).

It will be a month before the Eagles dive into their region slate, but the team has already begun its new season and will be battle-tested.

On Monday, Feb, 10, the Eagles fell to Morgan County 0-2 in pitchers’ duel. Swords pitched 4.2 innings and allowed one earned run while he struck out seven.

Jordan, Smith and Swords led off Eastside’s lineup and each grabbed a hit in the contest.

Eastside takes on a local rival in the Social Circle Redskins on Thursday, Feb. 13 before hosting the Newton Cup against Alcovy and Newton on Saturday, Feb. 15.