By: Zac Bottoms
Arkansas Scouting Director

Head Coach: Lance Spigner
High School: Horatio High School
Conference: 7-3A
Mascot: Lions
Team Twitter Handle: @HoratioBaseball

PBR: What are your expectations for your team this spring?

Coach Spigner: Our expectations are always high, but we have some hurdles to overcome if we want to contend.  We lost 5 seniors that started or were in our starting pitching rotation last spring and had another starter move out of the district.  Our guys have been working hard, but we are young, we only have 1 senior on our roster from last year's team.

PBR: Who is going to be your key contributors on the mound this spring?

Coach Spigner: We have three quality starters returning on the mound for us, all junior RHP's:  Tanner Vaught, Hunter Lansdell, and Cole Boyd.  All three give us a chance to win when they take the mound.  Tanner is battling an injury at this point, but we hope to have him back later in the spring.  We have several other guys that can give us innings and fill key roles in our rotation.

PBR: For your offense to be effective who do you expect to set the table? Who do you expect to drive in runs?

Coach Spigner: Our run producers should be Sr. first baseman Jason Barron, Jr. P/3B Hunter Lansdell, and Jr. P/Catcher Cole Boyd.  All three have some pop and were at the top in RBI's last season.  We also need Jr. OF Dante Jones to have a big year for us at the plate. The guys we will count on to set the table for them are Zach Izzo a Fr. C/Inf, Treyce Young a Jr. OF, and others like Michael Maben, Drew Griffin, and Reece Black.

PBR: Which Underclassmen do you need to step up and fill a void by last year’s seniors?

Coach Spigner: Some of the underclassmen we need to step and play for us are Fr shortstop Zach Izzo who is replacing the injured Tanner Vaught, Drew Griffin a Soph. middle infielder, and Reece Black who will have to play some in both the infield and the outfield.

PBR: Who is the team to beat in your conference/ your classification?

Coach Spigner: The team to beat in our conference and our classification is the defending state champion Genoa Central.  Our region is really strong, Fordyce and Smackover can both win it all.  Last season the final four teams in our regional tournament were also the final four teams in the state tournament.

PBR: What tournaments is your team attending this spring?

Coach Spigner: We play in the Ralph Gross Memorial Tournament in Nashville, AR on March 5-7 and in the Horatio State Bank Classic on March 12-14.

Related Content

• PBRPlus The Hotlist: Risers In The 2016 Rankings3.04.15
  Some juniors will make in a climb in the next update... >>
• AR No.2 Bryant HS vs No.7 Arkadelphia 3.04.15
  A look at Bryant vs Arkadelphia and other scores from around the state... >>
• PBRPlus 2015 Draft Blog3.04.15
  Compiling draft news in one location... >>
• PBRPlus Recruiting Essentials: NCAA Eligibility Center3.03.15
  Analyze your academic and amatuer credentials to determine... >>
• PBRPlus Mill Valley (KS) Leaning Left For 20153.03.15
  Jaguars have six southpaws on the pitching staff... >>