By TRACY WATSON

BEALLSVILLE – Head Coach Ty English has been trying to build the baseball program back up at Beallsville High School and going into his fifth campaign as the Blue Devils’ boss he has a roster of 12 players, which may not seem like much to most but is the most he has had on the team since he arrived.

And five of those 12 players will be returning starters from the 2019 team.

Leading the way will be seniors Wyatt VanDyne, who will be behind the plate, on the mound and in the outfield; Adam Baker, a pitcher, first baseman and Kyon Falkenstein in the outfield. The remaining two holdover starters are juniors Tae England (P, C, 2B) and Deyton Hughes (P, 3B, 2B).

Rounding out the starting lineup will be sophomore Kasen Kinzy (SS, P) and freshmen Tryson English (CF, P), Garrett Perkins (OF, P) and Thom Stoffel (P, 3B). The remainder of the roster includes junior Brandon Louden (P, OF) and freshmen Fred Anderson (OF, 1B) and Reed Smith (OF, 2B).

“That is the biggest roster we have had in my time here,” Ty English said. “But the best thing is that we are going to have the ability to move kids around at many different positions and we actually have three kids that can play any position on the field. Garrett Perkins is a kid that hasn’t played organized baseball since he was 12, but also a kid I believe can really help us this year.

“We have some good kids back and five freshmen who I really believe will have the chance to stick out and make a mark this season. Every kid on the roster will get the opportunity to start at some point and we are really looking to continue to build things up.

“The last season we got to play we won seven games, so we are really hoping to improve on that and as usual the OVAC tournament is always a goal. Our seniors and juniors are turning into good leaders and are making sure everyone is at practice on time, ready to go and focused. Unfortunately, with the year off, the biggest thing I have noticed is that our timing hitting the ball just isn’t there right now.

“Even with the hitting machine on minimum speed we are having trouble, either swinging early or late. Hopefully, that is something that will turn around once we get some games under our belts, but it could be a key situation in the long run.”

Baker will be the team’s ace on the mound with Hughes, Tae English and Tryson English all right there with him.

“The pitch-count rules can make things hard on a small roster, but we will do what we have to do. We have one week that we have just one day off, and we have a double-header on Saturday, so we will definitely be tested.

“You always want to set your goals high and hope the kids can play at their potential, but the big things right now are for them to go out, have fun and to continue to get better each and every time they take the field.”

Ty English’s staff will consist of John Smith and Jeff Fluharty.