Tighter Game Than The Final Score Indicates

What more can be asked out of freshman, Caleb Royston?  The 14 year old has been asked to hold down the all important shortstop position, and has had to make six starts on the mound.  On Thursday vs. the Longhorns from Johnson County, "Roy" was as sharp as he has been all year, keeping the potent Jo. Co. offense off balance for 4 and 1/3 innings, surrendering only four hits.  Caleb's willingness to work hard on his movement patterns as a pitcher have paid dividends for him on the bump in 2019.  We are excited about his future on our pitching staff.  

Junior LHP, Dalton Rouse is vulnerable on the mound right now.  Although he has been cleared to pitch, he is showing a selfless, team-first mentality, being willing to go out there knowing he does not have his best stuff, knowing he is compromised.  In saying that, the two runs Rouse gave up on Thursday vs. the Longhorns, are the first two runs he has surrendered in his small sample size of work in 2019.  

We were happy for junior OF, Landen Street.  He hit the ball hard on Thursday, as he has done other times in 2019 with nothing to show for it, so it was nice to see him get a couple of base knocks.  Landen, as everyone associated with Hampton Baseball knows, also keeps a team first, positive attitude.  It was especially nice to see him have a good game at the dish after he put in some extra work in the "Barn" on his swing before the game.  

It was nice to see big, Caleb Oaks come off the bench and record a solid hit.  We were pleased, that although we are sure he wanted to be in the starting lineup on Thursday, he also displayed a good attitude in being willing to do whatever was asked of him.  We hope his base hit was a sign of things to come going into the postseason for Mr. Oaks.  

We went 0-3 on the week, with losses at Central Wise, and vs. Sullivan North and Johnson County.  We played three good ball clubs and showed flashes of much improvement in each game, especially in tiny areas that may go largely unnoticed.  We are working together to build this baseball program.  The steps may be smaller than we anticipated, but steps are being taken to build Hampton High School Baseball.