By Austin Lewter, Jimplecute
The Jefferson Bulldog baseball team has every chance to bounce back from adversity after an 0-2 start to district play.
They fell to Troup in a 10-0 final on Tuesday.
Beyond just losing on the scoreboard, the Bulldogs lost their starting pitcher, senior Trent Foster, to injury.
“Trent broke his elbow pitching on Tuesday,” head coach Tyler Foster said. “He is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday and there is a chance he could be back this year— if we make the playoffs. But that is a long ways out… the injury was to the bone in the elbow. There was no damage to ligaments in the joint, so that was a silver lining.”
The Tyler Foster injury is the second to a key member of the Bulldog lineup this year.
“We lost Caden Whatley to injury very early on,” Coach Foster said. “He was our ace, so that left us adjusting positions from the get-go. Trent getting hurt has just escalated that.”
Coach Foster has promoted a pair of JV players and he’s says they are ready to plat.
“We were able to bump up a few of our younger guys,” Coach Foster said. “Steven Washington and Cortavion Massingill are stepping into varsity roles and they are hungry. They are chomping at the bit and ready to play. It will be exciting to see what they do.”
The loss to Waskom came after an 8-8 tie against Chisum in Tournament play on March 12.
Their first district loss came in as an 8-5 final against Waskom on March 9.
“Between the injuries and some long road trips for tournament play, I think our guys are fighting some mental blocks,” Coach Foster said. “We are in a slump, that’s for sure. But success in our sports in determined by how you react to adversity… we have been hitting better over the past few days. We just have to focus on defense… it’s all about fundamental defense.”
The Bulldogs committed five errors against Waskom and six against Troup.
“You can’t win games when you commit that many errors,” Coach Foster said. “We have to clean it up.”
The Dawgs are 3-8-1 overall and 0-2 in district going into a second outing against Troup tonight at home.”
“Our district schedule plot back-to-back games against each opponent,” Coach Foster said. “So we are right back at it against Troup on Friday… the idea is scheduling like this should level the playing field. A team won’t play their ace two games in a row, so this will give us a chance to face each team once with their ace and once without.”
Coach Foster said the job of the ace for his squad is currently in contention between Bailey Varnell and Bryce Clark.
“We have a bit of a competition for that top spot and that’s good,” he said “Competition brings out the best in players.”
Coach Foster said freshman Judsen Carter will start on the mound for the Bulldogs tonight.
First pitch is set for 7 p.m. in Jefferson.
The Bulldogs look ahead to a tough district slate with Tatum, Harleton, West Rusk, Arp Waskom and Elysian Fields.
“This district is tough,” Coach Foster said. “And the region is even tougher. The bi-district round of the playoffs will pit our teams against the likes of Daingerfield, White Oak and Hughes Springs—all great baseball schools. The competition will only get tougher from here on out.”