Batter up! With Spring right around the corner, the White Station baseball team is preparing for a strong start to the 2017 season. With a combination of new players, great leadership and determination, the Spartans head into the season with high spirits.

After a hard defeat against Collierville High School in the R8AAA semifinals, head coach Wade Walter and his team set their sights on a new year. With the loss of five seniors, (Reid Young, Steafon Parson, Beryl Grant, Jim Doster and Terrence Mclellans), new leaders are expected to step up and take charge this year. Reed McGuinn (12), John Lyons (12) and Hunter Anderson (12) have many young players looking up to them.

“I expect them to play hard every time they touch the baseball,” Walter said. “I expect them to try to beat each team they play one day at a time.”

With pretty tough competition from private schools, such as St. George’s and Memphis University School, the Spartans face an uphill battle to being one of the best in Shelby County. While games against top teams would be hard to win, these guys possess the talent, work ethic and character to taste success one day.

“The area that we have improved in dramatically already [since last season] is character,” Walter said. “Our character on this team is so much better than last year’s [team]. There’s more coachable kids on this team. They want to work, and they like playing baseball together.”

Team chemistry is a valuable asset in baseball. With so many different positions, communication and focus is required for success in the sport. On top of that, the amount of time spent together as a team plays a big role in developing team chemistry. Of course, love of the game is a big reason why so many baseball teams are successful. It translates to the hard work and dedication required to do well in any sport.

An offseason project that really helped strengthen team chemistry was the building of the new fence that now surrounds the 8,100 feet baseball field at the heart of the White Station campus where the team practices about five to six times a week. In addition to that project, the team also works together in regularly maintaining the field to keep it in best shape by doing activities like yard work.

“I want to be consistent with discipline,” Walter said “I want to be hard on everybody in the same way to try to be as fair as I can.”

Young players are enthusiastic about this season.“This year, we have great senior leadership and are ready to have a much better season, ” Hunter Goldberg (10) said.

Hopes are high for the season, especially with the evidence of improved leadership. Expect your Spartans to make a well balanced effort to return to the top amongst Memphis high school baseball teams. Best of luck in the road to make state!