At press time, this Easley baseball team was starting to kick it into high gear.
Green Wave ace Walker Cox hit the mid 90s with his fastball and even hit a recent home run in Greenville. Senior Cooper Spears continued his steady play behind the plate and is leading the team in hitting.
“I’m just trying to get everyone on the same page and the same goal – obviously a state championship,” Sears said. “We have a couple of leaders including me and what I’m trying to do is just get everybody where they need to be.”
And about his approach at the plate, Sears said that he is just trying to get the job done. “Nothing too crazy – just get the bat on the ball.”
EHS Pitching coach Cole Simpson and Coach Gill Payne have also seen the leadership of Sears emerge, too.
“Cooper has really been a good leader and captain to the team, keeping the pitchers in line,” said Coach Simpson. “I try to do my best, but sometimes it has to come from the players. I think the guys rally around that and feed off that. They just need some guidance.”
Added Coach Payne, “Cooper was kind of a quiet and reserved guy last year and this year he’s more of the clubhouse guy. He’s all in. He even corrects people in the dugout and praises people when he needs to. He’s that guy.”
Sears has helped guide an Easley pitching staff of Cox, Irvin, Holcombe and Jochimsen – all who have an ERA at around the 1.0 mark. “I’m proud of every single one of them (the pitching staff) and I think they have been great for us,” he said.
Easley 5, Greenville 2
Senior Walker Cox led the Green Wave to a 5-2 win at Greenville on Tuesday (March 24), hitting a 2-run homer in the top of the ninth inning and finishing 3-for-5 at the plate. It marks the lone home run of the season for Easley.
Cox also threw 4 solid innings of scoreless baseball in the victory (3 hits, 1 run, 0 earned runs, 0 walks and 6 strikeouts). Helping close out the victory on the mound for the Green Wave were Levi Holcombe (3.1 inn., 1 hit, 1 run, 2 walks and 1 strikeout) and Colton Irvin (1.2 inn., 0 hits, 0 walks and 2 strikeouts).
Also getting hits for EHS in the win were: Irvin (1-3), Trey Kicklighter (1-4), Ayden Beeco (1-4) and Cooper Sears (2-4).
(EHS baseball stat leaders thru 11 games and a 6-5 record)
Hitting:
Cooper Sears: .455 (15-of-33), 3 doubles, 15 RBIs, 18 Total Bases, 6 Walks, .545 Slugging Percentage, 2 Sacrifice Flies and a .512 On Base Percentage
Walker Cox: .394 (13-of-33), 4 Runs, 4 doubles, 7 RBIs, 20 Total Bases, .606 Slugging Percentage
Colton Irvin: .265 (9-of-34), 7 Runs, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs, 11 Total Bases, 7 Walks, .324 Slugging Percentage and a .405 On Base Percentage.
Ayden Beeco: .265 (9-of-34), 7 Runs, 4 doubles, 3 RBIs, 13 Total Bases, .382 Slugging Percentage
Trey Kicklighter: .250 (8-of-32), 7 Runs, 4 RBIs, 8 Total Bases, 5 Walks
Pitching:
Walker Cox: 1.00 ERA, 0-1, 7 inn., 4h, 2r, 1er, 1bb, 14ks and .167 Opponents avg.)
Colton Irvin: 1.11 ERA, 1-1, 6.1 inn., 1 save, 4h, 1r, 1er, 4bb, 6ks and .190 Opponents avg.)
Levi Holcombe: 1.26 ERA, 1-0, 16.2 inn., 6h, 3r, 3er, 6bb, 16ks and a .107 Opponents avg.)
Zac Jochimsen: 1.64 ERA, 2-1, 21.1 inn., 20h, 5r, 5er, 10bb, 14ks and .260 opponents avg.)
Trey Kicklighter: 4.10 ERA, 2-2, 13.2 inn., 4h, 9r, 8er, 10bb, 17ks, and .269 opponents avg.)
Leave a Reply