Season looks bright for baseball players
Coach Mercer says talent is the best he’s ever had
Photo by Victoria Stafford
Head baseball coach Corey Mercer, far left, gives his team a pep talk before heading out to Mesa Community College in Arizona.
Lotis Butchko
Baseball is just like any other team sport. It requires a group of players who want to play and a coach who knows how to mold them into a group that plays as a team.
This year’s North Lake College baseball team is no exception.
There are two types of baseball. One is the ‘power game.’ That’s where you see all those home runs rising majestically over the outfi eld fences. Think about the New York Yankees and their short right field porch.
Then there is ‘small ball.’ That’s the game in which sly, fast players bunt, steal, and hit sacrifice flies to get a few runs for really good pitchers. Think about the Detroit Tigers, just finding ways to get runs when they need them most.
Perhaps the best way to think of small ball is to remember the words of North Lake Coach Corey Mercer: “We’re going to have to manufacture some runs.”
Small ball may seem a less interesting game, but it works. And, this year, North Lake has a strong pitching staff and plenty of good fielders who can bunt, steal bases and hit those timely sacrifice flies.
So, small ball is what North Lake plans to play this year.
On a solid pitching staff that is deeper than it has been in years, Jeremy Heatley, a transfer from Texas A&M Kingsville, appears to be Mercer’s ace. Heatley also has a shot at being drafted by a major league team in June.
Returning pitcher Mason Thompson may be second in the rotation. But, according to Mercer, Thompson would be just fine as the staff ace, too.
Also returning is NLC All-Conference and All-Region third baseman Evan Segler, who moves to center field this year. Segler, you may remember, missed becoming an All-American by the closest of margins.
Bright new transfers include shortstop Elvis Padilla from Southeastern Community College in West Burlington, Iowa., and J.B. Cazores from Brookhaven College in Dallas County, as well as pitcher Taylor Combs from the University of Texas at Arlington, and Clay Thomas from Cisco Junior College in Cisco, Texas.
The season will kick off in Phoenix, Ariz., in a two-game set against Mesa Community College. The Blazers are hoping to improve on their 19-28 (17-6 conference) season from last year.
“This is the best talent we have had since I have been here,” Mercer said, adding that this team has the potential to make the College World Series this year. “If we stay healthy and play to our potential, it’s a no-brainer.”
– Lotis Butchko is a journalism major and staff writer