Coast baseball, softball on deck with weekend jamborees
Before the high school baseball and softball seasons get into full swing next weekend, teams across the Coast will take advantage of this weekend's jamboree schedule to work out any remaining questions.
For some coaches, like St. Patrick softball coach Tommy Castanedo and West Harrison softball coach Brittany Rogers, Saturday will go a long way toward helping them solidify their starting lineups.
After having a mostly veteran squad the last couple of years, the Lady Fighting Irish will turn the ball over to a few underclassmen and will use this weekend's action against Picayune to help decide three position battles.
"We're just looking to get everybody some swings in," Castanedo said. "We've got some kids competing right now. That's always exciting.
The Lady Hurricanes look poised to take another step forward this year with five collegiate signees on the roster.
Saturday's jamboree at Harrison Central will go a long way toward reaffirming Rogers' high expectations for her experienced squad.
"I feel pretty good about us," she said of a team that lost just three seniors from last year's Class 5A South State title team. "There's things we're still working on to get to perfection but I'm pretty confident."
Even with all of their experience, the Lady Hurricanes need to remain focused this season if they're going to make a repeat run.
"We have to work to get back to where we were," Rogers said. "It's not just going to be handed to us."
Biloxi baseball
Like most of his counterparts, new Biloxi coach Eddie Lofton views Saturday's two home jamboree games against Pass Christian and St. Patrick as perhaps more important scrimmages.
"It's not about winning and losing Saturday. It's just about seeing how you stack up and what you need to fix before next week," said Lofton, who spent the last 10 seasons leading Clinton. "My thing, especially being in my first year at Biloxi, I want to see my guys compete. I know what they can do against each other, but I'm ready to see what they can do against someone in another uniform."
This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 1:21 PM with the headline "Coast baseball, softball on deck with weekend jamborees ."