By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
Sure, winning a few more games along the way would have been nice.
That was not what first-year Jefferson Davis Community College Warhawks baseball coach Darrell Blevins wanted to accomplish during his team's fall exhibition season.
For the record, JDCC went 3-15 but those figures do not concern Blevins at this time.
Despite last spring's 41-14 record and the Alabama Community College Conference south division championship, the 2005-06 school year figures to be a rebuilding one for Blevins and the Warhawks.
Blevins took over the program in late July after preceding coach Jim Morrill was dismissed last spring as part of a job consolidation move. Multiple returning sophomores and incoming recruits pulled out of the program while the school searched for Morrill's replacement.
While Blevins has since been able to restock the roster, he has had to do so with youth. Only five of 30 players are sophomores.
Blevins said the youth of his team is more of a problem now than what it will be later in the school year.
Blevins anticipates some player movement both in and possibly out of the program at semester break.
During the fall season JDCC has primarily used freshmen Daniel Hodge (W.S. Neal) and Jake Bonds (Flomaton) as well as sophomore Kyle Reed (Cantonment, Fla.) at first base. Freshmen Jesse Edwards (Notasulga) and sophomore transfer David Washington (St. Petersburg, Fla.) have gotten a look at second base. Freshmen Steven Bingert (Pensacola, Fla.) and Kenny McDonald (Pensacola) have been used at shortstop. Sophomore Harrison Szuch (Pensacola) and freshmen Bubba Mack (Milton, Fla.)
have gotten the call for third base.
Behind the plate at catcher have been freshmen Nathan Hughes (Opelika), Jonathan Milling (Tuscaloosa) and Wes Burt (Auburn).
Freshmen Josh Montel (Atmore), Jordan Currid (DeFuniak Springs, Fla.), J.J. Cutler (Cantonment) and Jeremy White (Lawley) have gotten the most work out of a dozen plus outfielders.
Freshman Tyler Rollan (Montgomery) settled into a designated hitter role.
While the pitching staff still has several questions to answer, freshman lefthander Tim Horne (Pensacola) and freshmen righthanders Chad Chadourne (Fairhope) and Adam Reed (Pensacola) made their pitch for a spot in the starting rotation, while freshman righthander Brandon Douglas (W.S. Neal) and redshirt freshman lefthander Alex Granade (Flomaton) made strides coming out of the bullpen.