Looking to build off of last season under new management, Apollo is looking to count on its experience and depth in order to compete with the best in the 9th District and the 3rd Region.
The Eagles are coming off of a 2023 season in which they fell just short of the 9th District Championship with a 6-3 loss to Owensboro Catholic, while finishing the season at 20-14 after a first-round 3rd Region exit. Apollo lost four key seniors in Harrison Bowman, Dayton Brown, Nick Judd and Tyler Payne, so they’ll have plenty of shoes to fill this season.
But the Eagles have plenty of returnees to help with that, including senior outfielder Josh Mayes (.358 batting average), senior catcher Aiden Wells (.269 batting average), junior pitcher/outfielder Noah Cook (3.00 ERA, .253 batting average), junior pitcher/infielder Will Strode (2.10 ERA, .487 batting average) and utility player sophomore Sam Holder (.279 batting average). They’ll have a new leader in Head Coach Brandon Dennis as well, as he said that Apollo will be counting on these players to contribute just as much as they had last year.
“We have several returning guys who played a significant role last season,” Dennis said. “These young men have worked hard over the course of the last year and we fully expect each of them to have an even better 2023 season.”
The Eagles will also have a number of players that have had varsity experience, but are hoping for some breakout seasons from players like senior Charles Schneider, junior Easton Blandford, junior Brock Burger, junior Michael Chaney, sophomore Carter Kimmel, sophomore Garrett Lanham, sophomore Grayson Smith. Smith is one of the many pitchers Apollo will have in its arsenal this season, something Dennis is looking forward to utilizing while also focusing on the mental side of the game offensively to help them be their best day in and day out.
“One of our biggest strengths is our pitching staff,” Dennis said. “If our pitchers can stay healthy and perform as we project them to perform, we will be in a great position to accomplish the things we want to accomplish this season. The other big factor will be for our hitters to be more disciplined so that they are operating within our desired offensive identity. We are a work in progress, but we are definitely closer than when we started this journey together.”
Dennis said in order to find themselves back deep in the district and region tournaments, he expects his team to work hard and compete on a daily basis this year in an effort to be as prepared as possible for a grueling 9th district tournament opener.
“To reach our goals, we need to play cleaner defensively than we did last season along with having more productive at-bats,” Dennis said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the way our guys have come together and worked throughout the offseason and I can’t wait to get this season started, so we can see both how far we have come and how far we need to go to be the team we want to be on a daily basis.”
