RICHMOND HILL - Richmond Hill High School head baseball coach Mitchell Curry may need a program to keep up with his own team at the beginning of this season.
"We've only got two returning starters," Curry said. "Some of our younger guys that don't have any varsity experience are going to have to step right in and play."
Gone from last season's 19-9 state playoff team are seven key players, six to graduation and one transfer. Four were offered the opportunity to play college-level baseball.
"We do have some kids returning who have some varsity experience, but really only two defensive starters," said Curry. "But right now, defensively, I'd say we've got a lot of work to do because we're so young at all those spots. We've got no experienced players at shortstop, second base or the outfield. Those positions are going to be filled by all new players.
"We do have some kids who can hit the ball, so offensively we should be okay, but our defense is going to be a concern."
Curry said he felt that Richmond Hill's sub-region (3-AAA, south) has several strong teams in it.
"I think South Effingham has the best team," Curry said. "Liberty County has a lot of talent coming back. They didn't lose anybody, plus they had a couple of good kids transfer in, so they're going to be good. Burke County only lost one player and Benedictine only lost one player, but he was a key player. I think South Effingham has to be the favorite with Liberty and Burke in line behind them. We're going to be trying to fight for that third spot in the sub-region to get into the playoffs."
Even though he sees this season as a rebuilding season for the Wildcats, Curry feels the future of Richmond Hill baseball is bright.
"This is obviously a rebuilding year after losing all those kids from last year's team and I know it's going to be tough to replace all those players. But we've got some good senior leadership. Plus Jeremy Goolsby (1B) and John Johnson (C) are both back. They were in the top three on the team last year in most hitting categories."
"And while this may not be the most experienced group we've ever had, their attitudes are great and they are extremely coachable," Curry said. "I said earlier that we had a lot of work to do, but this is a group that is willing to do the work. There is no lack of effort from these guys. I get comments all the time from their teachers about what good kids they are. This group has a chance to come together as a team in a way probably no other team I've ever coached has.
"Plus, we've got some real good kids coming up in the program. We've got some really talented ninth-grade pitchers, some really good arms. We've got six left-handed pitchers on our junior varsity team in all, I've never had anything like that before," he said. "If those guys will keep working, by the time they get to be juniors and seniors we will have an incredible pitching staff."
Richmond Hill will play a scrimmage game against Savannah Christian Prep on Friday at 5 p.m. and open the regular season hosting Swainsboro Monday at 5:30 p.m.