BASEBALL: East Jackson building momentum after tripling win total last year

While East Jackson coach Tedd Sims told his team it’s hard to be cocky after going 12-18 last year, there are plenty of reasons to be confident.
The Eagles surrendered 86 fewer runs in 2018 compared to 2017 and scored 75 more. What’s more, the 12 victories tripled the team’s win total over 2017 and set a school record.
“The first day I got here, I talked about trusting the process,” Sims said. “Year one was pretty tough for me, but I believe in the guys and I believe in our coaching staff, and I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
This year’s Eagles, who open the season today at home against Johnson, will look to build on those marks in year three of Sims’ tenure on the eastside.
Sims has added an assistant coach, Scott Myers, to his staff to go with assistant coach Caleb Hardy, who has worked alongside Sims since he arrived at East Jackson.
While this year’s team has no senior class, it does return a strong core of eight juniors (Cole Sealey, Halton Hardy, Caleb Adair, Josiah Stansell, Josh Compton, Jarrett Pursley, Jake Varner and Sawyer Irwin). Those eight juniors have played exclusively under Sims at East Jackson, which is no small footnote for a program that had four coaches in a five-year stretch (2013-2017). Sims said this class has bought into the coaching staff’s standard for the program. It’s also taken on a leadership role in the absence of seniors.
“The eight juniors have definitely taken on these younger kids and sort of mentored them, and that’s what you really want … I’m very proud of the way they’re leading by example with these younger backs,” Sims said.
Many of the players that headlined last year’s team are back.
The team’s top two pitchers — Sealey and Hardy — return after solid sophomore campaigns. Sealey went 3-5 with a 2.86 ERA, while Hardy was 2-4 with a 3.79 ERA. Adair and Compton have quality arms, according to Sims, and will be counted on this spring.
“In our region, we’re going to have to have some depth, and I’m very confident in the arms that we’re going to put on the bump,” Sims said.
The offensive lineup welcomes back two players who hit over .300 last year — Cole Sealey (.364) and Jake Varner (.319).
“I feel like we’ll be better offensively than we were last year just because it’s a confidence thing,” said Sims, whose team has benefitted from the addition of an indoor hitting facility.
The Eagles return experience in a number of spots defensively with Hardy (shortstop), Sealey (centerfield), Adair (utility), Compton (outfield) and Varner (catcher and outfield).
“Honestly, we’ve got some pieces to the puzzle that we can interchange this year, which is a good thing,” Sims said.
The coach added that Pursley and younger players like Gavin Beck, Dylan Varner, Luke Lindsey, Noah Watts and Brayden Redding will also compete for positions.
The Eagles find themselves in a tough region 8-AAA that got even tougher with the addition of Class AAAA state champion Jefferson, which dropped down to 8-AAA. Last year’s 8-AAA champion, Morgan County, reached the Class AAA Final Four last year. Runner-up Franklin County reached the Sweet 16.
“It’s a grind, and playing a three-game series against every team, your goal is to go out and take two out of three every series,” Sims said. “We’re going to have to play quality ball, pitch good, play defense and have timely hits. There’s not a region team in our region where you can just show up and win the game.”
That said, East Jackson’s goal is to reach the state tournament.
“When I got here, year one, I sort of looked at a four-year vision and like I said, with eight juniors this year, I really thought year three could be the year we could compete and I’m looking forward to a great year this year,” Sims said.
Entering his third season, Sims believes he’s finally instilling the culture he envisioned when he first took the East Jackson job.
“It’s something that I thought I could come in here and just snap my fingers and get it to go my direction, and it just wasn’t that easy,” Sims said. “But with these eight juniors who’ve only been underneath me and coach (Caleb) Hardy and now coach (Scott) Myers. I feel like the culture has definitely taken the right turn in the right direction.”