Gilmer High baseball gathered for an intrasquad scrimmage last Thursday.
The game pitted the Purple and White squads against each other on a chilly night. Pitchers dominated the six-inning game that ended in a 1-1 tie.
Purple struck first in the second inning and scored off a pair of errors. White added its run in the late innings on a two-out passed ball.
“The pitchers were way ahead of the hitters,” coach Jeff Thurman said. “I was real pleased with the pitching. Usually it’s sloppy all the way around this time of the year, especially in an intrasquad scrimmage. I felt like our pitchers were dialed in and at least throwing strikes. We were able to get some good off speed pitches over the plate, too, which is a good sign.
“The hitting is going to have to come along. Usually the hitting will come on as they get more reps.”
Thurman opted to play six innings rather than seven. There were also adjustments made to an inning to ensure the scrimmage was productive without pitchers being overworked.
“There were two half innings where we didn’t get three outs. I was really watching the pitch count and had a couple guys I only wanted to throw about 15 or 16 pitches. It was pretty much a live game aside from that,” Thurman said.
Gilmer’s pitching staff was hit hard by the offseason. The Bobcats will enter their 2021 campaign with shortage of returning varsity innings.
“Pitching was an area of concern for our team coming into the season. With (senior) Jess Buckner coming off surgery, we’re not expecting him to maybe get back on the mound by mid-March. Then we lost a couple other pitchers. One went back to being home schooled full time, and another one is going to night school now.
“Along with graduation, we really lost about five pitchers from our staff last year.”
Thurman and coaches have spent extra time working with pitchers to get them ready for the start of the season. He has been pleased with what he has seen so far.
“We emphasized pitching in the offseason from November on. Unfortunately, if you spend more time on one, you’re taking away from some other part of the game with a three-coach staff,” Thurman said.
“I’m real happy with where we’re at right now. I think we’re ahead of schedule.”
GHS will travel to Towns County Friday for an exhibition game starting at 5 p.m. The Bobcats will host Murray County Monday for their season opener at 5:30 p.m.