Baseball begins for El Campo
"You can legitimately win eight district games and lose seven and still be in the playoffs." -Kerry Brandl
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Back In Action Head Coach Kerry Brandl throws batting practice to his team Monday.

Nature lovers beware. The Ricebirds are out to damage some pine trees.

Several of the large evergreens line the outfield wall at Youth Memorial Park and if the 'Birds have their way, some El Campo home runs just might snap a few limbs as baseball season officially begins.

Last night was the Ricebirds first game of the year and El Campo fans have reason to hope for success in a new season.

Scrimmages earlier in the month gave the coaching staff an idea of what the team will look like this season, but it is still too early to get a clear picture of a starting lineup.

"There's a lot of competition right now," Brandl said. "There's a lot of kids that can end up playing and that's a great thing for the coaching staff. There's been years where you think, 'Man, I hope we find nine.' I think we've got nine, we're just not sure which nine yet. We've got options and it remains to be seen still."

Realistically, Brandl said he could see changing up his lineup throughout the season. His strategy is to try and find whoever is hot at the time and play him. He said there is no one time when a coach should stop looking to change things up on the field.

"I don't think it's ever too late," Brandl said. "I tell our JV kids as well, 'If you're getting after it on the JV and we need an outfielder or we need an infielder or we need another pitcher or whatever, that's the whole idea of having those two teams playing. If we get into a situation where we need somebody to step it up and play in the outfield and there's a guy at the JV that's really getting after it at the plate, that's the whole idea. We'll move him up and keep on going.

"The big thing with playing 15 district ball games is that you run out of time in a hurry. You have to walk a thin line between getting my nine ready and giving everybody a fair shake to be in that nine. You want to mix and match and find nine and get comfortable with nine, but at the same time you don't want to get so set in on nine that you don't give the other guys a shot."

Brandl said he loves trying to find the best combination on every game night.

"That's the fun part of the game

punching the right buttons at the right time to say, 'OK, he's on the verge of getting into a slump, then he needs a break,'" the coach said. "'He needs a few days of batting practice to get back on track.' Then you've got that kid sitting on the bench where you go, 'Man, he's really swung it good. He's ready to bust out and have a good game here.' That's the game that you've got to keep everybody ready to go so you have those options.

"We could change up to the last district game if we thought it made the difference in winning a game or not. You want to find nine, but right now, we have 18."

Brandl hinted the pitching rotation may be close to being set. The coach said he would certainly put a deserving player on the mound if given the chance, but he seems ready to go with at least four hurlers.

"We've had some pitchers throw well," Brandl said. "Matthew Hamman, Bryan Skow and Andrew Kinder, we knew those three guys were going to take care of business when they came back. They're returning starters from last year.

"We're glad to have Landon (Appling) back and we're going to get him going on the mound as quickly as we can but as carefully as we can. We're not going to throw him into the fire. We're going to let him work himself into pitching shape because he's the other one we're expecting to do lots of pitching."

Pitching is potentially a strength for the Ricebirds. Brandl admitted there is still room for improvement, but also seemed to suggest the rotation is strong as a complete unit.

"Our pitching is good but not great," Brandl said. "Our pitchers are going to do a good job. They're going to keep us in the games, but we don't have a pitcher that's going to go out there and dominate anybody with people standing around in the outfield with nothing to do. We're going to have to play good defense every night.

"Our pitchers are not going to walk many, but they aren't going to blow many people away either. So, we've got to do a good job of mixing it up, changing speeds, keeping people off balance and giving our defense a chance to play and then when they give us an out, we need to take it. We can't give up any extra outs."

Brandl said district play should be tough once again.

With even match-ups throughout all six teams, the difference between playoffs and the end of the season could come down to one game.

"Nobody is going to win 15 games in district," Brandl said. "You can say, 'Oh, we're going to win them all.' That sounds like a great goal, but it's really not realistic in this district. You can legitimately win eight district games and lose seven and still be in the playoffs. That's almost playing .500 baseball and that's how even the district is going to be."

Brandl said he thinks any team could claim the district crown and does not think any one should be favored. Experience could be the deciding factor.

"I would say somebody would have an edge if they were going to overpower everybody else," Brandl said. "I don't see that. You would think that Seven Lakes would have the jump on everybody because they lost nobody. Everybody's back, but at the same time, everybody's back from a team that didn't make the playoffs. Lamar Consolidated has most of theirs back, Bay City has a lot back, Foster has two good pitchers that are back. Terry lost a bunch but they're still going to be good.

"I don't know if there is an edge. I think it's too even. If somebody said, 'Who would you like to play tonight if the district championship was on the line?' or 'Who do you think you could beat?' You look at Foster and you look at Seven Lakes and you look at Bay City and look at Lamar and you go, 'Man, that's a double-edged sword. Choose your poison there.' I think it's all up in the air. It's who plays day in and day out and who takes care of their business."