Lafayette Baseball Embraces Tough Schedule in Hopes of Becoming State Champs

By Judson Scott
Hottytoddy.com Intern
jcscott5@go.olemiss.edu

The 2020 Lafayette Commodores baseball campaign is already well underway with the Commodores sitting at 3-1 after the first four games of the season.

Lafayette baseball. Photo courtesy of Lafayette Commodores Facebook page.

The Commodores are looking to get over the hump in the 2020 campaign after falling in the state championship a year ago to West Jones.

John Walker, who began coaching at Water Valley in 2004 and has made many stops around the state of Mississippi, is back as the Commodores head baseball coach for the 2020 season.

Walker and the rest of the team will have to deal with a very tough schedule designed to prepare them for the final state championship series.

The schedule also includes a spring break tournament at Northeast Community College.

“After last season’s state runner-up finish, we set out to challenge ourselves with a schedule that would prepare us to win the final series,” Walker said.

The Commodores did indeed challenge themselves fully. According to their 2020 regular-season schedule, the Commodores will toe the rubber with 6A powers Desoto Central, Tupelo, Lewisburg, South Panola and Oxford.

The Commodores also scheduled real contenders in the lower classifications including Ripley, Pontotoc, East Union and North Pontotoc. This, to go along with a division that includes Lake Cormorant, Saltillo and Center Hill, will prove to be a real challenge for the baseball team moving forward.

The Commodores will attack this schedule with a nice mix of upperclassmen and lowerclassmen. The team consists of 11 seniors, four juniors, four sophomores and 14 freshmen.

According to Walker, it’s the pitching depth that makes the Commodores stand out from the others.

“Pitching depth should be the strength of this team,” Walker said. “Juniors Wilson Varner and Taylor Tarver have been mainstays for us since their freshman seasons. Junior Blake Loper was a big addition for us last season and a healthy Hunter Coleman gives us good options.”

The Commodores need to continue to develop and get better every day if they want to make it back and win the elusive state championship, Walker said. 

“I think that if our offense continues to develop, we will have a great shot at winning the state title,” he said.