Organized Chaos

Gulf Coast baseball season is under way. The softballers follow suit on Saturday with a doubleheader against visiting Lake City (first game set for Noon at Joe Tom King Field).

The preseason outlook points to success for the baseball team, with 11 returners from last year’s team that qualified for the state tournament for the second straight year. The pitching staff is deep, with the expected ace, Bryam Garcia, set to be at full strength for the Panhandle Conference season.

I was impressed with what I saw from the Commodores over the weekend. I saw the team’s first 18 innings over the course of three games. There were no errors, few bad swings and steady pitching, save a brief stumble in the seventh inning of the second game.

Gulf Coast, which opened 2-1 against Young Harris College of Georgia, is fighting through some early injuries, including a hamstring problem by Mason Meredeth. But, if they stay healthy for the most part, the Commodores will challenge Chipola for the conference title (with this year’s conference schedule shortened to 20 games, but more on that in a later report).

Across the way at Joe Tom King Field, coach Susan Painter might feel like this is her first year. There are 16 freshmen on this team and only two returners from last year’s team that placed third in the state tournament. Painter made it a point to clear out some of the riff raff from last season and this is every bit like starting over.

The outlook is bright, despite the youth of the team. Painter has high expectations and from what I’m hearing there’s much talent on the team. I’m in the dark a bit because I know a little about only a few of the players, including Marianna’s Jill Mathis and Holmes County’s Brianna Belcher.

I’ll be learning about this team as much as Painter does. There will be bumps in the road, but I agree with her that the team will be ready to go in March for the conference schedule.

You can view the softball schedule by clicking here.

You can view the baseball schedule by clicking here.

I’ll do these reports periodically to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the teams, as well as my thoughts as the season progresses.

Your thoughts?

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