Carroll Academy baseball coach Bo Milton was starting to make some progress with the school’s baseball team before the school left for spring break.
Despite an extremely wet spring that cancelled several games, Milton said he saw plenty of positives and was excited about playing the district schedule.
“I felt like we were making good progress,” Milton said. “We had lost some close games, but we weren’t getting blown out. The offense hadn’t started clicking yet. I thought the pitching and defense had been really solid. We were getting runners on base but just not getting the big hit. I felt really good about where we were headed. It’s just one of those things that got shut down before we saw how good we might be this year.”
One of the bright spots for the Rebels was sophomore Drew Thomas, both at the plate and on the mound.
“I thought Drew Thomas was really showing what he could do,” Milton said. “He had some some really good things so far. He had pitched 7 1/3 innings and had given up two runs. He didn’t have a strikeout by had only given up five hits and two runs. I was really pleased with where our pitching staff was headed. I also thought James Neill had pitched pretty well. I was really encouraged by how those two kids had pitched.”
Milton said he hasn’t heard a final decision on the baseball season. Milton said Carroll Academy is out until April 17 and school rules don’t permit after-school practice when school isn’t in session.
“As far as I know, it’s still week to week,” Milton said. “We aren’t practicing. We have a rule that we can’t practice if we aren’t at school so we don’t practice. I’m not going to say 100 percent that we aren’t going to have a season, but the feeling is that we won’t have a season at this point.”
Milton, who also doubles as the football coach, said he hasn’t really given summer baseball much thought at this point.
“It’s tough for us in the summer,” Milton said. “Being the football coach, summer really moves into football and then there are the basketball camps. It’s something I would look at. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
Carroll had just finished two-thirds of an outstanding sports season. The football team when 11-3, losing by two points to eventual state champion Greenville St. Joseph in the Class AAA quarterfinals. The boys basketball team lost in the Class AAA championship game and made the MAIS Overall state tournament. Milton hopes the athletes at Carroll have learned something about overcoming adversity.
“They are being put into a situation that none of us have ever been in before,” Milton said. “They have to make the best out of it. So they are doing a lot of fishing and turkey hunting. It’s an obsession for some of them right now and I don’t blame them. They have to make the best out of it. It’s just one of those things, we will get through it. I feel bad for our three seniors (Zach Downs, James Neill and Hunter Huff), they won’t have a senior season or a senior night. But we teach that you have to deal with adversity. I hope they are prepared to deal with this adversity and have learned how to fight through it.”
