Daylight Saving Time arrives on Sunday and high school spring sports aren’t far behind. After three weeks of practicing and scrimmaging, spring sports arrive for real on Monday of next week.
Opening day will mark the debut of new James River baseball coach Chase Henry, as the Knights open with a 5 p.m. game at Staunton River. The jayvees will play in Springwood at 5:30 p.m.
“My goal for the year is to have success across both levels, varsity and jayvee, and grow the game,” said Henry. “We have a group of hard working young men who are putting in the time and effort. We are all extremely excited to get started and represent James River the right way.”
Both River soccer teams also play Monday. The boys will host Nelson County in a jayvee-varsity doubleheader, with the jayvees opening at 5:30 p.m. The girls jayvee and varsity teams play at the same time at Nelson County.
“I’m really looking forward to the upcoming season,” said River boys coach Jared Whiting. “We lost a lot of players to last year’s graduation but have filled the roster with new and upcoming talent. We have several athletes that have not played soccer in quite a few years but are picking up the skills and game quickly and are going to be big assets for us. The chemistry I’m seeing is outstanding.”
“Our girls look pretty solid in the preseason,” said River girls coach Bill Smith. “We have some great players and my job is to help them become a great team. I am encouraged by what I have seen so far.”
The LB girls also have a soccer game Monday as they play at Blacksburg. It will be varsity only at 6 p.m. as Giuseppe D’Arpa returns to coach the Cavaliers.
On Tuesday, March 12, Lord Botetourt will have five sports open, baseball, softball, boys soccer and both tennis teams. The varsity baseball team is at Hidden Valley for a 5 p.m. first pitch while the jayvees are here for a 5:30 p.m. start.
“We have seven guys returning that saw considerable playing time last year, so we will be hoping that they can step up their roles,” said LB coach Todd Smith. “They’ve all worked really hard this summer and fall, so hopefully that work will pay off. We have a very tough non-district schedule and, as always, the Blue Ridge is going to be one of the strongest districts around.”
The softball team is home to Hidden Valley at 5:30 p.m. with the jayvees on the road at 5 p.m. LB coach Megan Cook has high hopes for the season.
“Wow, this team is truly something special and I have not been more excited for a season since I started coaching,” she said. “We are having a blast together and the girls are performing as if we are mid-season already. We truly are a huge family and we cannot wait to show other teams what we are bringing this year. God is showing up in big ways with this team.”
The boys soccer team will host defending Class 2 state champion Glenvar for a jayvee-varsity doubleheader in Daleville next Tuesday. LB scrimmaged Hidden Valley and Cave Spring at Bogle Field last Saturday and tied both, 0-0 against the Titans and 2-2 against Cave Spring. Will Hall and Danny Kidd scored for the Cavaliers.
Both LB tennis teams will also open next Tuesday. The girls will host Christiansburg at 4:30 p.m. at the Hollins University courts and the boys are at Christiansburg, same time.
“We are excited for this season to get underway,” said boys coach Blake Johnson. “We have a lot of new opportunities on this team with at least half of our starting lineup gaining top six experience for the first time this year. We will face a tough schedule, but that will help this team grow quickly.”
The LB girls tennis team has a new coach in Sam Belcher. His wife, Lindsey, is the assistant.
“We have girls that are brand new to tennis and we have girls who have been playing for years,” said Sam. “Our goal, as their coaches, is to help them grow as tennis players, but more importantly to help them grow as strong and confident young women. This is a really fun group of girls and we’re excited to see what lies ahead of us.”
Photos by Brian Hoffman
The James River baseball team will be at Salem to play the Spartans at Kiwanis Park on Wednesday, March 13, at 5 p.m. with the jayvees playing in Springwood at 5:30 p.m.
The River softball team will open that day with a home game against Patrick Henry at 5:30 p.m. and the jayvees are at PH at 5 p.m. The Knights were state runners-up last year but coach Steve Austin saw some top notch players graduate from that team.
“Our softball team is young and inexperienced,” he said. “We have one freshman, nine sophomores, one junior and three seniors. We lost five college-level seniors who provided 100 percent of the pitching and about 75 percent of the offensive production.
“We have modest goals of consistent improvement and trying to make regional play.”
The county spring teams will wrap up the preseason this week with a Lord Botetourt boys tennis scrimmage at Hollins on Thursday, a baseball scrimmage on Friday and a softball jamboree at the Botetourt Sports Complex on Saturday. LB will take on Fort Defiance at 11 a.m. and Brookville at 3 p.m. with Fort Defiance and Brookville playing each other in between.
James River has a 4:30 p.m. baseball scrimmage at Rockbridge County on Thursday.
