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Indians and Yellow Jackets face off in scrimmage




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CROSS PLAINS – With the baseball season starting Monday, East Robertson and Springfield faced off to get some early-season work in in preparation of opening day. Springfield capitalized early using small ball to score most of their runs, while the Indians relied on a gap hit from Luke Murphy towards the end of the game to tie things up.

“It’s huge, especially since we have Rossview coming up,” Jackets coach James Pope said. “Being able to execute the little things is going to be big, considering the first guy we’re facing is going to Tennessee. We have to be able to scrape runs if our bats aren’t going. We preach and expect small ball and base running, but it’s great to see it happen so well today.”

East Robertson (10-A) and Springfield (10-AAA) may be on opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to TSSAA Division I districts, but the two have more in common than it seems. Each will rely on veteran pitching to get to the district tournament.

The Indians lost multiple seniors, including all-district players and the 10-A Pitcher of the Year. Being a young team, East Robertson is looking to senior and Vanderbilt signee Luke Murphy to round up the younger guys and get them ready for the season.

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“This is a completely different team,” Indians coach Derek Wix said. “We graduated a lot of guys so we’ve got a lot of guys trying to fill roles. This is brand new and we’re treating them like that. We don’t have a lot of returners and I think we only have three guys that had any varsity at bats coming in.”

District 10-A also has some changes from last season. Without Clarksville Academy and Nashville Christian, the Indians are looking to repeat as district champions. However, they still have to look out for the Red Devils, who return nearly everyone from last year’s team.

“Losing Clarksville Academy and Nashville Christian are two of the top opponents, but I think Jo Byrns will be a tough matchup,” Murphy said. “They’ve got a lot of guys back. I think if we can swing the bats this year, we’ll have a pretty good chance at a good run.”

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The Indians start their season Monday at Vanderbilt with Murphy on the bump.

“I’m excited,” Murphy said. “It’s something I’ll never forget for sure. When you get on the mound over there, the adrenaline hits and it’s pretty cool. It’s amazing.”

The Yellow Jackets also dive into their season head first on Monday at Austin Peay against Rossview – the projected 10-AAA winner. The Hawks have not one, but two SEC commits. Senior pitcher Elijah Pleasants, who the Jackets are likely to face on Monday, is committed to Tennessee, while sophomore pitcher Gage Bradley has anchored down his commitment to Vanderbilt.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Pope said. “We’ve been preaching we have to go game one. So, I think coming across the No. 1 team early, we’re not only going to see what we’re made of, but it could help set us up for the rest of the year. I think catching them this early is more of a benefit to us than to them.”

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The Jackets are putting Austin Peay signee Luke Brown on the mound on opening day. Brown signed to the Govs late in November.

“If they’re not ready to go Monday, they’ve got their guy going, we’ve got our guy going, they’re the No. 1 team in the district, it’s big time,” Pope said. “It’s a big experience for our guys too to have faith in their pitcher on the mound in that big setting. To know he’s going to be on his A game, it takes some pressure off of the team.”

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