With basketball season now at an end, the focus now turns to the sound of bats dinging, the smack of leather gloves, and the smell hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill. Baseball season is fast approaching, and the DeKalb County High School Tigers have been on the field preparing for opening day.

“They’ve been working hard,” said Head Coach Tad Webb. He explained that though practice only officially began on February 13, the team has been preparing for much longer.

“We’ve been doing stuff since back in September, lifting weights, doing long toss stuff, working their arm conditions, just getting in shape. Just being in the weight room has definitely been paying off. We can see a difference in their body type. Now that we’ve been turned loose and able to really get going, their energy is up and they’re enjoying being here and putting in the work. We’ve had some beautiful days to practice, and that opens their eyes and kind of gets that fever going,” Coach Webb said.

As for the makeup of this year’s team, Coach Webb said the Tigers have a couple of veterans that should take a leadership role, as well as some talented younger players. “We’ve got two seniors,” Webb explained. “I have one, Ean Jones, that this is his fourth year. We have another one that moved in, Carter Cook, who moved in from Siegel. He’s got some connections here, his family is from here, his mom, and some cousins, Dallas Kirby being one of his cousins. With those two seniors, we’re expecting them to be some leaders on the team, with some others to be leaders as well.”

Coach Webb said that with so many seniors last year, now is the time for some of his younger players to shine. “We had a good staff last year, but we were senior heavy. We’ve had all these young guys kind of sitting and waiting, and now they’re going to get their opportunity to get out and work. We’ve had some days where we’ve had some live simulation, and they’ve thrown pretty well. Their off speed stuff has been pretty well commanded. I’ve been pleased with what I’ve seen so far.”

According to Webb, this year’s talent on the mound is looking good with several players showing their pitching strength. “We’ve got a variety. We’ve got nine or 10 guys that’s kind of in the mix. When we play four or five games a week, we’re going to have to have multiple arms. We’ve got five or six that we’re looking at to be the leaders of our pitching staff. We’ve got Cook, and we expect some good things out of him, and we’ve got some juniors that have come onto the scene and it’s their opportunity.”

“We’ve got Cam Cabellero, Brayden Carter, and we’ve also got Carson Donnell,” Coach Webb continued. “We’ve also got Conner Young that’s going to be in the mix of everything. We have Evan Prichard that’s really come on that I’ve been really pleased with. Dallas Kirby is coming off of an injury. He’s been looking good for us in his return. We just have a big mixture of guys that are going to come in and contribute.”

As with seasons past, Coach Webb said some familiar old foes look to be strong in the district this year as well. “It’s just like every other sport we play. Upperman is projected to be top, and deservedly so as they won the state last year. They returned a lot of guys from last year’s team. I think they lost three starters, which one of them was a big part of their team while the others were role players. They’re definitely the front runners.”

“Livingston is returning some guys in pitching as well,” Webb said. “Stone Memorial is always going to have some guys that are going to compete, and Macon County is always scrappy.”

“I don’t know a lot about Cumberland and White County. Cumberland has lost several and also lost one of their coaches, which is the one that went to White County. I would say that both of those programs are going to be competitive.”

The Tigers first game is also their first district game, at home against White County on March 13. “We’ve got a lot of new faces out there, and it’s a great opportunity for them, but we’ve got some old guys that have been around in the lineup for the last couple of years. We’ve got Conner Young who is a returning starting short stop. Ty Webb is returning, playing a hybrid second base and catching. We look for him to take that role behind the plate for us this year.”

“Carson Donnell played a lot of outfield for us last year, and we expecting to play centerfield and control things out there. We also have Westin Wright who was in and out of the lineup last year. He’s been swinging it pretty well for us this year. We’ve got some new faces, but also some faces that you’ll recognize from the past year or two,” said Webb.

The Tigers will be playing their 50-Inning game this Saturday, beginning around 9 a.m. at the DCHS field.