CALEDONIA — Trey Lancaster’s slow shake of the head is a telling sign for anyone who has swung a bat.
Whether it is fastballs or curveballs, pitchers with command of the strike zone, or pesky mechanical quirks, hitters have a variety of things that can wreak havoc with their batting averages and cause them to second- or triple-guess their approach.
Lancaster knows this all too well. He slowly shakes his head from right to left and back and admits he “wasn’t doing too hot” at the plate.
One year later, Lancaster perks up when asked about his hitting.
“It has been a BIG improvement,” Lancaster said. “It is from all of the hard work we have done (in the school’s indoor baseball facility). Coach (John Wilson) makes us hit off the tees and use our bottom hand hitting in the cages. He gets on to us when we’re in there talking and messing around. He makes sure we stop talking and makes sure we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing.”
Lancaster’s maturation as a hitter is just one reason why the Caledonia High School baseball team has advanced to the second round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A North State playoffs. The growth of Caleb Brown, Nathan Kendrick, and Lancaster as hitters has given the Confederates (18-10) three plus-.300 hitters who can provide a big hit whenever it is needed.
Caledonia hopes to get plenty of timely hits at 6 tonight in game one of its best-of-three series against Cleveland. Game two will be at 6 p.m. Friday in Caledonia. An if-needed third game will be back in Cleveland at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Wilson credits his pitching and defense for playing key roles in the team’s success. He also has seen many of his players develop into better hitters, including Brown, Kendrick, and Lancaster. Kendrick’s .333 batting average leads the team among players with the most at-bats. Brown (.329) and Lancaster (.312) are right behind and also are leaders in run production.
Brown, a sophomore, who has the team’s only home run, leads the team with 28 hits and 23 runs. He is tied for the team lead with five doubles and is fourth with 12 RBIs.
Lancaster, a junior, is second on the team with 24 hits and third with 20 runs. He has three doubles, one triple, and 11 RBIs, while Kendrick, who also is a junior, has 12 hits and five RBIs.
Wilson said he changes the hitting drills the players do in their indoor facility whenever he sees something the team needs to work on. He said he has stressed the importance of the bottom hand by having the players use T-Ball bats when they hit indoors. He said he has tried to eliminate hitches in swings by having players stand on a chair and then drop a ball to force their teammates to have quick swings that go straight to the ball.
Wilson said he has tried to do drills like the ones he is using this year throughout his 20-plus years as a head coach.
“The guys weren’t too happy when we started doing stuff like that (last season), but then they figured out it was helping them,” Wilson said. “They started doing it and they have bought in to it. Now they have no problem with them. Whatever I ask them to do they pretty much do it. They know it is going to help them.”
Wilson said he learned parts of the hitting routine from John Borland, who was his baseball coach at North Florida Community College in Madison, Fla. He said he picked up other drills from working baseball camps at Mississippi State University.
Brown, Kendrick, and Lancaster all mentioned the drills when they were asked how they have improved at the plate. Wilson said all of the batting averages are higher in part because his players are doing a better job of staying patient at the plate.
“When Trey swings with his hands and he is wristy, he is going to get basehits,” Wilson said. “Nathan has hit well when we have put him out there. Caleb has a chance to be a good player.”
Brown has moved up to the leadoff spot in the batting order and has focused on trying to hit the ball on the ground. Like Lancaster, he was hitting in the .200s last year. This year, though, there are a lot fewer slow shakes of the head and a lot more smiles and productive at-bats.
“It is a big change,” Brown said. “I knew coming into this year I had to step it up. I couldn’t hit .200. Last year, we didn’t have too good of a year as a team, and I knew I had to step it up if we wanted to do something as a team.
“I have surprised myself. I have put a lot of hard work in the cages and have come out here and got lucky a couple of times.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.