The Times-Journal

Sunday, September 5, 2010 | DeKalb County's Oldest Newspaper

Classifieds | Jobs | Homes | Autos

Baseball, softball start throwing Monday

By Lew Gilliland
The Times-Journal

Published January 5, 2008

The Fort Payne High School baseball team has struggled for most of the last decade, but head coach Johnny Johnson believes the Wildcats are positioned to start a turnaround in 2008.

“I definitely think so,” said Johnson, who is beginning his fourth season at the Fort Payne helm. “The group that is coming through now has been with me for three years and is starting to understand what we need to get done, and that started to show this summer.”

A three-week throwing and conditioning period for prep baseball and softball teams across the state begins Monday. Teams are allowed to throw and pitch during the next three weeks but can’t do any hitting or situational work.

Johnson said his team will work five days a week during the throwing period.

“I think everybody is excited,” he said. “After the way the summer ended, we go into the spring with a lot of confidence about what could happen.”

Fort Payne appears to be riding some momentum as the new season approaches.

The Cats fared well in their last two summer tournaments, taking second place at South Pittsburg (Tenn.) and first at Scottsboro. Fort Payne won eight of its last nine games, including its final six.

Johnson was also pleased with what he saw from the Cats during the team’s five-day fall evaluation period last month.

“The state opening up the fall evaluation period to all varsity players and not just newcomers was big for us because it got players thinking about baseball at the end of the semester,” he said.

Fort Payne stressed hustle last summer, with attention paid to details such as how fast players got on and off the field between innings. Johnson said that approach continued during the evaluation period and won’t change this spring.

“We kind of changed the way we did our practices, and the kids really picked up on it,” he said. “All the work we used to get done in 2 1/2 or three-hour practices we got done in two hours.”

Making sure throwing arms are conditioned and in shape for the season is a concern for many coaches, and Johnson said his team worked on that during evaluations. He said players also began working out their arms on their own after football ended.

The throwing period leads into the start of preseason practice Jan. 28.

Fort Payne will open its season Feb. 18 — the first day of competition statewide — with a doubleheader against Cleveland. The Cats will play at doubleheader against Hokes Bluff the next day.

Both twinbills will be at home.

SOFTBALL: Fort Payne’s softball team will also begin three weeks of throwing Monday.

“I’m excited,” first-year Lady Cast coach Andrea Rains said. “We had fall evaluations the week before we got out for Christmas. We’ve got some promise. We’ve got some girls with good arms. We’ve got some things to work on, but who doesn’t.”

Rains formerly served as assistant softball and head junior varsity girls basketball coach at the old Gadsden High School.

Her inaugural Fort Payne team will make its season debut in a Southside-sponsored tournament at Gadsden on Feb. 22.

Share | Save | Mail | Print

Photo Reprints
Purchase select photographs from local games and events. New from The Times-Journal and The Times-Journal.

Subscription Services: Circulation | Home Delivery | Back Issues | Vacation Stops | Newspapers In Education

The Fort Payne Times-Journal | Publisher: J.D. Davidson

811 Greenhill Blvd.NW, Fort Payne, Alabama 35967 | Tel: 256-845-2550 | Email