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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

When the 2024 season ended and coach Joey Anderson looked down the road to 2025, he could see nothing but big questions on the mound. Connor Berg (1.62 ERA in 56 innings) and Braeden Rodgers (2.23 ERA in 47 innings) exhausted their eligibility when Davie lost 11-9 at Cox Mill in the second round of the 4-A playoffs.
Although Davie’s baseball team is starting from scratch on the mound, Anderson feels much better about the situation than he did last May.
Tucker Hobbs (13.1 IP, 3 BB, 18 K, 1.05 ERA) has the most varsity experience, followed by Parker Davis (7 IP) and Xander Shinsky (1.2 IP). That trio will get a chance to log major innings.
The biggest thing going for the War Eagles, of course, is the shortstop/leadoff man with breathtaking talents. Senior Coy James established himself as a program legend a long time ago. In July he could go high enough in the Major League Baseball Draft to skip college and begin a professional career, or he could be an Ole Miss Rebel next year.
“He’s high on a lot of people’s lists,” Anderson said. “There’s going to be a lot of guys out there watching just to see what he does and how he handles himself. A lot of them are impressed with just his overall demeanor, not just his baseball IQ, but also the way he carries himself.”
The only three-time .400 hitter in Davie’s 69-year history, James hit .409 as a freshman, .451 as a sophomore and .413 as a junior. His career numbers: .424 average (104 for 245), 31 doubles, 8 triples, 8 homers, 44 RBIs, 53 walks, 42 stolen bases. In last week’s scrimmage, he launched an opposite-field bomb.
“His first at-bat was impressive,” Anderson said. “He hit one in the right-center gap. Both balls he hit well were to opposite field. He said everybody’s staying away; they’re not coming on the inside half. And I said: ‘Well, you’re going to have to hit it that way.’ That’s one of the things we talked about last year, that he was going to have to add that to his already stellar arsenal at the plate. If somebody wants to walk him, then go ahead and he’ll steal two bases and we’ll get a run.”
Hunter Potts is coming off a junior season in which he delivered the 16th-best average (.428) in Davie annals. He went 30 for 70 with 18 RBIs and 10 steals. “He’ll probably be somewhere in the top of the order to try to protect Coy,” Anderson said.
Anderson is hoping Davie gets significant offensive production from Logan Allen, Hayden Potts (Hunter’s younger brother), Drew Krause (.315 in 73 at-bats) and Kason Stewart. “Logan, Hayden, Drew and Kason are swinging it (the bat) well.”
While the pitching staff may lack star power, Anderson isn’t worried about depth. Besides Hobbs, Davis and Shinsky, he can turn to Colin Harrison, Jacob Patton, Ayden Sanders and Ty Greene.
“Jacob is kind of a strike specialist,” he said. “He throws on the left side and he’s crafty. We’re going to use him in a couple different ways. Ayden is another guy that’s crafty. I left Ty on JV for the time just to try to get him some innings. He might be somebody we move up later on. We’re going to do the best we possibly can to give people different looks. We don’t have that big-name guy. But (in the Feb. 18 scrimmage when Anderson used 7 arms), I thought everybody threw pretty well. We’re going to have a little bit of depth and each one gives a different look. So we’re going to keep people guessing.”
The War Eagles are coming off an 13-11, 8-6 year in which they won at least one playoff game for the fourth consecutive year. They have achieved three winning records in Anderson’s three years, but are aching to get back in the CPC hunt. Davie finished fourth, fourth, fourth and fifth the past four years.
A CPC title might be a dream, but Davie could be a dark horse.
“You don’t ever want to say: ‘Hey, we’re state-playoffs bound,’” Anderson said. “But I’m happy to see what we’ve got going for us. We’ve got some guys coming up at the JV level that are going to help us for years to come. So I’m really happy with the situation that we’ve got.”
The varsity roster: Davis, Carson Queen, Hunter Potts, James, Shinsky, Krause, Hobbs, Stewart and Corbin Angus are seniors; Coston Colamarino, John Fisher, Bubby Byington, Sanders, Patton, Allen and Ryan Williams are juniors; and Hayden Potts, Greene, Tanner Steinour, Ty Sain and Harrison are sophomores.
JVs: sophomores Blake French, Mason Boger, Steinour, Ian Patton, Greene, Nick Cannon, Landon Welch; and freshmen Brandon Forrest, Cayden Thalasinos, Taylor Shenberger, Carter Cornett, Levi Block, Reynolds Tomlinson, Austin Samuels, Jason Riddle, Tay Settecasi, Preston Young, Michael Saunders, Noah Potts and Easton Sanders.