CALEDONIA — The Caledonia High School baseball team had never practiced on a Sunday under second-year head coach Travis Garner until Feb. 9.
Tired of the constant rain and the dreary weather, Garner saw the sun — and an opportunity. He called his players out to the field that day to get some work in, which they were grateful to see.
But the Confederates haven’t practiced on their own field since, confined to their indoor facility while rain dampened the grass outside. After playing in a jamboree the following Saturday, Feb. 15, and playing games against Gordo (Alabama) and Columbus last week, the ‘Feds have spent more time playing games on their own field than practicing on it.
Now, with a stretch of four contests in five days — starting Tuesday at Sulligent (Alabama) — Caledonia is raring to get outside and play.
“Not being outside makes us more hungry when we get to get on the field,” senior and Itawamba Community College signee Peyton McCollum said. “It makes the days on the field even more exciting because you get to get out there and do things you haven’t done all week. It gets the team kind of focused in, and obviously you’re gonna get better when you’re focused in and ready to do something.”
McCollum and Garner were both satisfied with Caledonia’s start to the season, in which the ‘Feds followed up a 9-2 loss to Gordo last Monday with an 11-1, run-rule rout of Columbus.
“You could look up, and that game could be three, four, five to nothing, but instead we went ahead and handled our business, won that game 11-1 and got the bad taste of Gordo out of our mouth,” Garner said.
The rout of the Falcons is promising for Garner, whose team struggled in the early part of last season. But Caledonia rebounded to win nine of 11 games during one stretch, earn the No. 2 seed in its district and reach the second round of the playoffs.
The ‘Feds aren’t just seeking to repeat last season, though. This year, they want even more.
“We feel very confident in our talent,” said senior Justin Black, an East Mississippi Community College signee. “We’ve got a bunch of older guys with a lot of leadership that we feel can propel us even further into the playoffs. We’ve got a lot of guys who’ve got that kind of big game experience, and we’re just hoping we can progress this year, too.”
Caledonia has nine seniors on its roster and five returning starters: McCollum, Black and seniors Tony Brooks, Westlee Honeycutt and Nathan McLemore. McCollum, Black and Brooks — also an EMCC signee — have stepped into leadership roles on the team in their senior seasons.
“They do a good job on the field and with their work ethic,” Garner said. “That’s what I tell everybody: ‘One day, those three kids aren’t gonna be here. Somebody else is gonna have to step up and lead.’ Those three kids are a good core group to move forward with.”
But if the trio is the heart of the team, Garner said, McLemore is the glue holding the ‘Feds together. The backstop said he carries a “team is greater than me” mentality.
“I do what I can to help us win ballgames,” McLemore said. “If that means I have to lay down a bunt, I’ll lay down a bunt. That means if they need me to hit a ball to the right side, I’ll hit a ball to the right side. I just do what I can.”
Honeycutt has experience both on the mound and at the plate, Garner said, and Starkville High School transfer Thomas Tucker is another senior expected to contribute right away. Tucker, who slots in as the ‘Feds starting center fielder, hit .372 for the Yellow Jackets in 2019.
“We’re a lot further along today than we were at this time last year because of the experience,” Garner said.
That’s despite losing two-way stars Beau Bates and Cade Stacy, who Garner acknowledged were probably Caledonia’s two best players last season. Stacy, now at Meridian Community College was the team’s No. 1 pitcher; Bates, now at EMCC, batted .449.
“Missing them in the lineup and on the mound definitely hurts, but we’ve got some guys who are gonna perform this year who are gonna surprise some people,” McCollum said.
That group includes junior Loren Cox — a linebacker for the Caledonia football team — and sophomore Josh Pitts. Both will earn starts this week as Garner will be forced to try out a different pitcher for each of the ‘Feds’ four games.
The busy schedule will also allow the coach to give all his players a shot and see who sticks.
“At the end of this week, we feel like we should have a better opportunity to know where we stand with our club, and that right there should roll us straight into district play,” Garner said.
He knows that victories won’t come easy in the four-game stretch, which features Tuesday’s road game at Sulligent and home games with Louisville on Wednesday, rival and 2019 Class 4A champion New Hope on Friday and Hamilton (Alabama) on Saturday. If the ‘Feds can survive that, it would go a long way toward proving their worth in a season with high expectations.
“We’re about to have to saddle up and see what we’ve got,” Garner said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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