Marshall baseball team back at work

Coach Bruce Branch and his Marshall Academy Patriots had been missing baseball and each other.

They were back on the field together May 14 for the first time since early March.

"It's refreshing, seeing the kids," Branch said. "As a coach, you get attached to them and not seeing them for nine weeks, it was good to be out on the practice field and be around them. I needed it as much as they did."

The Patriots had played nine games when the season suddenly came to a halt.

Minus two recent MA graduates, Darian Houston and Brayden Daughtry, they move on and look forward to a full slate of summer games, starting June 2. The Patriots plan to play every Tuesday and Thursday, a doubleheader each evening with games at 5 and 7. He said most likely all the games will be played on the home field.

"I think these games in June are crucial," Branch said. "That's why we're putting so much emphasis on needing to play this summer.

"Not taking anything away from the past season, when I think we had a team that could have gone deep in the playoffs, but this spring was also a building season for the next couple of years."

Each Patriot will likely get 50 to 75 turns at bat this summer, he said, which will "be huge" and the pitchers will get to throw a "good amount of innings."

A young MA team, filled with talent, is suddenly growing up.

"We will have a veteran team moving forward," Branch said. "Most of the guys will be juniors and two-year starters and historically your junior year is your best year."