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Byars back to lead Wildcat baseball team
Byars is often Blacksburg High's best baseball player. Best pitcher. Best athlete. Best hitter. The Wildcats will need Byars at his best this season if they want to duplicate last season's postseason success. Blacksburg knocked off two ranked teams before falling to Batesburg- Leesville in the finals of the district tournament. "Dustin is our ace," Blacksburg coach Toby Elliott said. "We anticipate him to get us through our big games." Elliott said Byars benefitted from the experience of pitching for American Legion Post 109. Byars will be joined on the mound by juniors Ryan Dillenger, Josh Scruggs and Ashby Pruitt and sophomore Chase Norman. Elliott said they have worked hard to improve. "They played a lot of ball in the offseason," he said. "We feel they have worked hard enough to be successful this year." The Wildcats are expecting big things from catcher Will Raines. Elliott said Raines is outstanding defensively. The infield will be stocked with underclassmen, with freshman Ryan Green at first, juniors Scruggs and Dillenger at second and short, and sophomore Norman at third. Incredibly, the Wildcats will get even younger when eighth-grader Blake Tharpe plays third. Elliott admits the infield's inexperience is a concern. "We have a lot of work to do there," he said. The outfield will be made up of Byars, Tanner Hughes, Tyler Moss and Pruitt. D.J. Jeter and Rashad Earls will be valuable assets as pinch runners and will provide outfield depth. Brent Humphries will be the team's designated hitter. Speaking of hitting, Elliott said that's another potential weak spot. "When you lose a Gary Gaut, Rusty Price and Cameron Byars you will have some concerns," he said. "We have to wait and see if our kids can hit at the varsity level." Blacksburg will host Nations Ford in a 5 p.m. scrimmage on Thursday and open the regular season on March 4 against Woodruff. |
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