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Ellington baseball brings back 3 all-staters from championship team
ELLINGTON — With the season opener a couple weeks away, the Ellington Whippets baseball team has started their run as defending state champions.
“There’s a lot of pride in town about it. But this group has got a lot to prove still. We lost a lot of seniors, but we also brought back a lot of experience and a lot of talented young kids. So we’re just looking forward to improving ourselves,” Ellington coach Jake Hime said. “Losing seven seniors is tough, but these guys are hungry to get out there and start going.”
After an undefeated fall last year, and a second straight Big Springs Conference championship, the Whippets lost just one game in the spring — against Kennett — en route to a 9-0 win over Seymour for the school’s first ever state championship.
Hime said the championship banner and a ring ceremony will be held sometime in early September.
“I’ve had a lot of people who live in this community for a long time tell me it’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened. So they’re definitely supportive,” said Hime, who remembers 200 people waiting at a gas station as the bus returned from state, and 600 people turning out for a Fourth of July parade that also celebrated the team. “It’s hard to go get a jug of milk or a carton of eggs without somebody asking me how the boys are doing, or how we’re looking for next year … the community supported us so much during the run, and even afterwards.”
Though Ellington lost seven seniors, including it’s top two pitchers and three players who are playing college baseball, the cupboard is hardly bare.
“It’s not a rebuild, it’s a reload. We’ve worked hard,” Hime said.
The Whippets bring back three Class 2 all-state players in junior center fielder Carson McNail — who is also an all-state cross country runner — senior shortstop Nolan Heady —
who moves over from second base — and senior right fielder Garrett Morris.
Between McNail, Morris, and left fielder Tucker Dement, Hime expect to have a strong outfield.
“(Dement) probably could have started on most teams last year. We’re just really deep,” said Hime, who added Dement hit .424 last season as the team’s DH. “Infield spots are a little bit up for debate still. We’re trying to figure all that out. We’re just excited to get out here, get back on the grind.”
Eli Crocker and Bryson King are the top candidates to be Ellington’s primary pitchers. Crocker closed out the quarterfinal game in the spring, while King did not play in the spring but did play last fall. Hime added he’s got five guys who could start on the mound.
“I think they’re going to give us a chance to win. They’re going to throw strikes and hopefully we can make some plays behind them,” Hime said.
Numbers are still strong, as well. Though the team lost a big class of seven seniors, it brings in a bigger class of eight freshmen, who along with the sophomores, are pushing the upperclassmen.
“I’ve got a bunch of young guys trying to come up and steal some spots,” Hime said. “I’ve got a freshman group that is pretty talented, too.”
Ellington opens its season Aug. 30 with games against Marion C. Early and Silo, and has its home opener Sept. 9 against Van Buren.