Baseball is often a game of recency.
Especially at the high school level, it’s a sport of, “what have you done for me lately?” and “Who’s hot, who’s not?”
When teams do get hot at the right time, it doesn’t matter what the season looked like beforehand. Those are often the squads that compete in — and win — state titles.
Right now, there may not be a hotter team in the Upstate than Eastside.
The Eagles have won four straight games and five of their last six. Three of those wins have come against region rivals. In Eastside’s last four wins, the Eagles have been at bat for 14 innings.
In those 14 innings at the plate, Eastside bats have popped off for an absurd 48 runs on 60 hits.
“I think it was about the guys not questioning themselves anymore,” said Eastside head coach Scott Erwin. “They know the talent's there. But they doubted it just a little bit early in the season, and our tough schedule didn’t help.”
In a season that saw the Eagles lose two of their top players before the season even began — nationally-ranked freshman Brooks Blanchard and star junior pitcher Cooper Devries — Eastside’s season began in a slump. The Eagles started the year 3-8 as they worked through things as a team.
Now, they’ve found a groove. And they’re proving tough to beat.
“We’ve got an outstanding team. We really do,” said senior shortstop Peyton Schrader. “We’ve got ball players at every position. We’re just doing a better job now of relaxing and staying true to who we are as a team.”
“I think our recent success has come from our confidence and playing team ball,” said junior catcher Nolen Oglesby. “Each player in the lineup really trusts the person behind them to get the job done, and it’s led to really good at-bats and a lot of runs being scored.”
Eastside came into the year ranked No. 3 in Class 5-A Division 2 baseball, but the slow start saw them slip out of the polls. Now? Thanks to pitchers like Johnny Rosario and Conner Highsmith stepping up — along with the bats of guys like Oglesby, Andrew Brandt, Lawson Shirley, and more — there’s renewed hope.
There’s hope that just like last season, when the Eagles made it to the 5-A D2 Upper State Semis, they can once again be one of the last teams standing in their class.
“Early in the season, it got a little bit tough on the mental side for us,” said Erwin. “But even through that, they stayed together. And now, they’re flying around. You see that confidence they’ve built up in each other in all aspects of the game.”
“I think that time where we were struggling a bit has made us better now,” said Oglesby. “Our team stayed consistent and trusted each other to get back to playing at a high level. Even in those early losses, it felt like we were one inning away in each game, and lately we have been putting together a full game of production.
“That early stretch will have us prepared for the playoffs. When adversity hits, we’ll know how to respond to it.”
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