Vikings use summer as tool to prepare for regular season|[6/15/05]

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Summer baseball for Randy Broome and his Warren Central Vikings is all about playing games to get better.

The Vikings, who made it back to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs in May, found themselves needing to find four new starters during the summer season.

One of the ways Broome can help fill the void is by moving people around.

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“We rotate our guys through all nine positions. It makes it fun for them and they can get experience in a different position,” Broome said Friday after his club whipped visiting Hillcrest Christian 15-0 at Viking Field. “The summer is about getting everybody better. We want to stay in tune, get at-bats and stay fit.”

The Vikings are scheduled to play about 30 games this summer, including a tournament at Ridgeland.

“Rainouts can make it tough and most of the time, we can’t reschedule them and you don’t want to play too much during a week, because the pitching gets thin,” Broome said.

The Vikings will see some tough competition, including Northwest Rankin, which won the 5A championship over Gulfport. WC lost in two games to Gulfport at playoffs to finish 19-13 on the year.

One of the areas that needs to be addressed this summer for Broome at third base, where All-State player Zach Balthrop departed. Balthrop has a deal to play at Pearl River C.C. in Poplarville, but Broome said that with former WC coach Sam Temple getting the job at Hinds C.C., that might change.

“Zach hasn’t signed an athletic letter with them. Because of his high GPA, most of his scholarship was academic,” Broome said.

The Vikings will also have to replace their top pitcher in Drew Warnock (7-2), first baseman Ryan Grey, second baseman Will Mendrop and part-time starter Derrick Beard.

Three of the Vikings returnees will get a chance to step up in statewide competition after being selected to play in the State Games of Mississippi.

Selected to play were outfielder Nick Carson, pitcher Parker White and shortstop Josh Gordon.

The WC Juniors are scheduled to host Vicksburg on Thursday at 5 p.m.