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Flawless ambition: Bulldogs baseball steamrolls competition
By Richard C. White, rwhite@starlocalnews.com
Another game, another win.
That's business as usual for the McKinney North baseball team.
"We've been playing well," said Jim Gatewood, North head coach. "We're off to a good start. We're pitching pretty good and we swing the bats well, so I'm pretty pleased with where we're at."
"We don't really get caught up in the rankings," he said. "We've learned that in the past. We just worry about the team we're playing next. We're in this for the long run, and we're trying to play for a long time after the regular season's over. If you get caught up with where you're at now, you might be in trouble in the end."
Although the Bulldogs are firmly in the driver's seat two weeks into the district season, Gatewood is cautious to tag them as the district favorites.
"Wylie East is very good," he said. "They're returning a lot of guys off of last year's club and Royse City is very good. We saw them last week, and Lovejoy is good, too. I don't think you can say we're the favorite. I think we have a chance, but I don't think I'm ready for anybody to crown us the favorite yet."
Given their depth and experience, there aren't many areas of concern for the Bulldogs this season.
"We have seven guys that are hitting over .300 right now," Gatewood said. "I'm pleased with all of them, but I'm really pleased with the pitchers who have stepped up and done what they needed and our position players have picked up where they left off last year."
At the front of North's rotation is sophomore southpaw Gabe Constantine and junior Julian Pope, while the Bulldogs rely heavily on senior pitcher Anthony Herrera out of the bullpen.
"Those three guys have done a great job for us," Gatewood said.
Constantine in particular has impressed Gatewood, especially since he's only a sophomore.
"He was on the JV last year and he's stepped up and pitched well for us," he said. "He has the chance to be a No. 1 guy here for us for a long time and he just has to get some experience and he's doing that now. He's pitched in some big games for us."
As for the Bulldogs' lineup, Gatewood said their offensive prowess begins with junior shortstop Montana Sadler.
"We have a lot of our guys back from our team last year offensively and it starts with Sadler who plays shortstop for us," he said. "He's off to a great start and Preston Speers is a great first baseman with a lot of power. He hits in the four hole, and we got JT Stevenson who was an all-district catcher last year who's back behind the plate and so many other guys who played for us last year. You can tell they're all better this year because of the experience they've had."
North puts its perfect season on the line when it returns to action in Friday's 7:30 p.m. road game against Greenville. Although the Bulldogs have impressed many through their first 14 games, 13 games still remain on the season, with 10 of them against district opponents.
While he's proud of his team's performance thus far, Gatewood said there's always room for improvement, especially if the Bulldogs hope to achieve their ultimate goal of a deep playoff run.
"We need to shore up getting big hits in big situations, just like every team," he said. "And we're always striving to play that perfect game defensively and cut down on the mental errors and all of that stuff that you preach about in coaching. You can't be satisfied with where you're at, every day you have to try to get better."
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