Season Preview: Sheridan High School

March 9, 2015

By: Zac Bottoms
Arkansas Scouting Director

Head Coach: Mike Moore (30th season as head coach of the Yellowjackets)
High School: Sheridan High School
Conference: 6A South
Mascot: Yellowjackets

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

Coach Moore: We feel like we have a chance to be pretty good. We have all but one player returning from our 2014 squad that finished with a 22-9 record. We have experience at every position, solid pitching and defense, good team speed and we feel like we are going to be pretty good offensively. We feel like we can contend for a conference championship and maybe end up playing at Baum.

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

Coach Moore: We return 18 wins from last year to the mound this year. We are led by Tyler Allen, Senior, 6’5” 210 RHP. (4-1) 0.93 ERA. We lost him to a back injury last season about half way through the season. Tyler is back 100% so far and has had a great spring. Tyler Raney, Senior, 6’ 175 RHP (6-4) ERA 3.17 picked up the slack for us last season and we look for him to be solid again for us. Hunter Strong, Senior, 6’1” 180 LHP. (2-0) 4.28 ERA. Hunter, a UCA signee, has looked good this spring and will be called on to help with the pitching load. Other wins in 2014 came from Juniors Brady Bibb (2-0), Lathan Wylie (3-0), and Zach Glidden (1-0). All 3 had really good summers this past year, leading the Jackets to the Jr. American Legion State finals.

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

Coach Moore: We should be solid all the way through the lineup this season. Tadd Daggett, Senior, 5’10” 170, Tyler Raney, Senior, 6’, 175, Reese Lisenbey, Senior, 5’10” 175, Andrew Clark, Senior, 5’10” 175, Brady Bibb, Junior, 5’10” 175, Lathan Wylie, Junior, 5’10” 175, and Dustin Reid, Junior, 6’ 180, all have a knack for finding their way on base.

To drive them in, we will rely on Hunter Strong, Evan Thompson, Senior, 5’11” 190, David Vilches, sophomore, 5’10” 190, Nick Whitley, Junior, 5’10” 175, David Rainwater, sophomore, 6’2” 190, and McKinley Williams, sophomore, 6’2” 180. Strong and Thompson were our key guys in the RBI department last season, and we expect them to do it again this year.

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

Coach Moore: I would say sophomore David Rainwater. He could be really tough for us on the mound. If David could come through for us, it would really be good.

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

Coach Moore: Benton, Texarkana, El Dorado, Lake Hamilton, and Pine Bluff should be really good in our conference. Russellville should be really good again as well and they are the defending AAAAAA State Champions. Jonesboro always has a good squad as well.

PBR: What is your biggest non-conference game and why?

Coach Moore: We play a lot of big non-conference games. NLR, Watson Chapel, Bryant, Jacksonville, Malvern, White Hall, Sylvan Hills, Monticello. I would say probably the biggest one would be Bryant, because of the success they have had over the years. They have also received national attention and are the defending AAAAAAA State Champions.

PBR: What tournaments is your team attending this spring?

Coach Moore: We always play in the Benton Tournament the first week in March, and then turn around and play in our own tournament the second week of March.

Season Preview: Sheridan High School

Related Content