Volunteers Open Spring Baseball Season on February 8

Despite a chill in the air, the John A. Logan College baseball team will open spring play on February 8 at Central Alabama College. Jerry Halstead, now in his 25th year as head coach of the Volunteers, is ready to get the season started.

"We have 20 new faces on our roster so we're a work in progress," Halstead said. "We had a good fall season, and our freshmen got the opportunity to play college-level ball. We feel like we're really solid defensively, and I think we're going to be very good offensively. Our pitching is still a question mark. That's usually one of our strong suits, but we only have two pitchers, Keegan Dennis (Carmi, Illinois) and Dan Faulkner (Hammond, Indiana), that have a lot of college experience. But we also have some talented newcomers that we expect to step in and provide quality innings on the mound."

After beginning the season at Central Alabama College, Logan will head to Wadley, Alabama, to compete in a tournament at Southern Union State Community College on February 15-17. The Vols will then travel to Florida on February 22 to take on perennial power Okaloosa-Walton College. Halstead said the rigorous road schedule will be a challenge for his young team.

"It's going to be a learning experience for our new players to travel and play on the road," he said. "We'll also be facing tough competition. We've opened with Central Alabama for the past several years. It's one of the top teams in Alabama and is always a good test for us. These games will help us find out where we are as a team and gauge what we need to work on."

When the Volunteers do come home, they will play their home games at Rent One Park in Marion, home to the Southern Illinois Miners.

"We're really excited to be playing in the Miners' stadium," Halstead said. "It will be a great experience for our players. We've been practicing there for the past few weeks and it's a wonderful facility."

Logan will play its home opener on February 28 when it hosts Illinois Central College.