With the memories of last season still fresh in its mind, Warren Central’s baseball team embarked on the long journey toward the next one.

The Vikings’ varsity team opened a 20-game summer schedule with a home doubleheader against Germantown on Tuesday. They’ll play 10 doubleheaders over the course of the next month — the junior varsity and eighth/ninth grade teams will play nine each — with player development rather than results the primary goal.

The varsity will play again Monday at Northwest Rankin and next Tuesday at Germantown. Its next home doubleheader is June 18 against Clinton. All of the doubleheaders begin at 4 p.m.

“It’s just to get out here and get reps, and see who’s going to replace the guys you lost, and who’s going to step up,” Warren Central coach Conner Douglas said. “It’s good to see the guys compete at the varsity level, the JV level, whichever level they’re moving up to.”

The summer opener came exactly one month after the Vikings’ 2018 season ended with a playoff loss to Madison Central. Douglas said they hadn’t practiced since, and nodded toward the scoreboard as proof.

Germantown hit three home runs in the first two innings of game one of the doubleheader, including a three-run shot by Austin Lee that bounced off the roof of a bus parked beyond the centerfield fence.

“I hate the way the summer backs into the season. It’s such a long grind in the season, then you give them a couple of weeks off and we’re right back to it,” Douglas said. “We try to give these guys a couple of weeks off now so their bodies can recuperate. You’re seeing it right now. We haven’t been practicing because their bodies need a break from it. We’re going to get the most out of it we can and try to get ready for next year.”

When it comes to next year, Douglas’ mood brightened a bit. The Vikings will return seven everyday starters from a team that finished 21-10 and reached the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.
The returning roster includes pitcher-infielder Alan Kivett, pitcher-shortstop Vantrel Reed, and starting catcher Caleb Sterling.

“We’re losing some arms, some key outfield spots that have been starters for us for three years, but other than that we’ve got a good core of guys coming back,” Douglas said. “I think we return 75 percent of our lineup. So we’ve got a good group coming back. We’ve just got to fill those gaps that we did lose and hopefully some new guys will step up and maybe take the reins.”