The opening of Eagles baseball season is scheduled to get off to a quick start this weekend as NTCC hosts Cedar Valley for a double-header Friday afternoon before the Eagles take on Hill College in another double-header Saturday.
The Eagles finished up the Spring 2012 season with a record of 33-17, including a 26-10 mark in the tough Texas Eastern Athletic Conference, and NTCC will be looking to put together another great season in 2013.
?We have a whole lot of new faces around here but we are expecting the same kind of results from this team as we did last year,? Head Coach Josh Stewart said. ?We should be a much more physical team this season, a team that can really put the bat on the ball.?
The 2012 Eagles squad boasted five All-Conference picks, including pitchers Jordan Marah and Tanner Allgood as well as catcher Matt Durst and outfielders Wesley Hoover and Zach Costa.†Allgood, Durst and Hoover are among the 15 players returning to the Eagles from last season?s roster as the team looks to break in nearly 30 new faces this season.
Eight players from the Eagles? spring 2012 team have moved on to play with four-year schools, including Shane Segovia (Missouri), Mitchell Davis (Florida International), Dauris Holguin and Luis Sanchez (Faulkner), Jordan Marah (Northwood), Jonathan Luthe (Arkansas State), Telvin Darden (Southern Arkansas) and Costa (Northwestern State).
?It?s a process that all junior college teams have to go through every year,? Stewart said. ?You may think that you know what kind of players you have coming in, but you never really know what kind of team you are going to have until the players hit the field.?
While the Eagles return only two position starters and one starting pitcher, they are good ones as Durst led the team with 25 RBI last season while batting .314. Hoover was another force at the plate for the Eagles last season, hitting .292 with 19 RBI and eight doubles. Allgood led the Eagle pitching staff with six wins last season, finishing 6-1 with a 2.98 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 63 innings of work.
Leading the new faces at NTCC this season is sophomore transfer catcher Cameron O?Brien, who comes to the Eagles from Louisville.
?O?Brien is a solid hitter and a great catcher,? Stewart said. ?He will be able to give us a lot of depth at the catcher position and fill the DH position when he is not behind the plate.?
The new-look Eagle squad will get its first chance to take the field Friday as they face Cedar Valley beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday?s double-header against Hill College will also start at 1 p.m. The Eagles will then be back in action Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as they host a three-game series against Pratt. All three games are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
