It’s time to put away the batting cages and get ready for regular season action for local high school teams. 

All four area schools have been preparing for the start of the season with each school setting high expectations for their respective teams. 

No expectations are higher than at Alcovy. 

Head coach Jimmy Hughes is the longest tenured coach in the county entering his fourth season at the helm of the Tigers program. During his time, there’s been one thing that has escaped the Tigers — a postseason berth. 

It’s been since 2013 that Alcovy baseball has made it to the playoffs. 

Hughes believes his team has a strong chance to end that drought in 2022. 

“We’ve been on the doorstep lately,” Hughes said. “It’s our motto this year to ‘finish.’ We’re starting to knock on that door but, if you don’t open it what are you doing? That’s the next step we have to take in order to get [to the playoffs].” 

Helping accomplish this goal will be two seniors who Hughes really feels confident in. 

Connor Coursey and Cameron Bennett seem to have emerged as the team’s leaders heading into the 2022 season. But Hughes stressed how it needs to be a team effort to get back to postseason action. 

“They’re team guys,” Hughes said. “I can trust what they’re saying is right. Their maturity is up there and I can trust that, what they’re telling me is right.” 

At Eastside, they’ll be under the direction of first-year head coach Brandon Davis. 

Davis quickly acknowledged the steep history of Eastside’s play on the baseball diamond. And, while he feels some people may be down on the Eagles’ chances this year, Davis is ready to see what his team can do in 2022. 

“People say, ‘Oh, you lost a lot from last year’s team and have a new coach. So, you’re rebuilding.’” Davis said. “We don’t look at it that way. We’re reloading and getting ready to go again.” 

Pieces of the “reloading” include various players for the Eagles this season. 

Davis highlighted the entire senior class who have stepped up to lead the charge for Eastside this season while the underclassmen have taken some great strides, too. 

As the season progresses, though, Davis aims to see the Eagles come together as a complete unit to improve their chances. And, even though Davis is in his first year at the helm, his expectation is set to win it all. 

“The goal every year is to win the state championship,” Davis said. “If you set your goal to just make the playoffs, then you’ve set them too low. We want to be the last team standing.” 

Eastside isn’t the only local team operating under a new head coach. 

Newton High School will be led by first-year head coach Derwin McNealy in 2022. 

For McNealy, he’s excited to provide stable leadership for the Rams program this year. Over the offseason, he highlighted how pleased he’s been seeing each player work hard in preparation for the regular season. 

“The kids have bought in,” McNealy said. “We’ve done a lot of new things with a lot of young new guys. And the buy-in has been there from the beginning.” 

It’ll be the same work ethic to help make this season a successful one, too, according to McNealy. 

Throughout the workouts, a few players’ progression stood out to McNealy. 

Anthony Bynum, Nolan McCamy, Miguel Barbis and Lucas Ballard have gotten the attention of their new head coach with their varsity experience and talent. 

However, McNealy anticipates greater strides for the team as a whole as the season wanes on. 

“I want to see growth in every game,” McNealy said. “I want to start building a foundation, too, and win every game we go out to play.” 

Social Circle’s baseball program is coming off a 2021 campaign that featured the Redskins advancing all the way to Sweet 16. 

As the 2022 slate of games approached, head coach Kevin Dawkins believes that last year’s experience will only benefit this year’s team. 

“None of the starters from last year were seniors,” Dawkins said. “They made their mistakes last year but, the big thing is, can we learn from those? We also can’t get complacent and satisfied with where we’re at. Last year was special, making it to the Sweet 16, but that can’t be enough.” 

Dawkins plans to use the early part of the season, which mainly consists of non-region matchups, to give each player time on the field to see how the team is going to shape out. 

Even so, Dawkins has taken note of a few main contributors who he’s high on competing at a high level this season. 

Mason Moore and Mitchell McCullough have seemed to “take charge” of the Redskins this offseason, according to Dawkins. 

But for now, the Redskins are looking to work toward becoming better as the region part of the schedule quickly approaches. 

“Our non-region schedule is pretty packed,” Dawkins said. “But it gives us an opportunity to play better competition. So that way, when we get into the playoffs, we’re put in situations we’ve been in before.”