For the first time in school history, a team from Patrick County High School will be the defending state champions when members of the baseball team take the field this week. According to head coach Tal Swails, his team is ready for the challenge.
“It’s just like I told them on day one when we came out,” said Swails, “for the first time since June the 9th, you’re no longer state champions. You’re former state champions. And everybody’s the same. Everybody’s record is 0-0.”
Among the challenges will be opposing teams knowing they are playing the defending champs.
“The difference is everybody knows you won it. We’re a good team and we’ve always been a good team and we always have competitive games, but we’ve never been a former state champ, and nobody knows what that feels like,” said Swails.
The Cougars will make the move to the Three Rivers District this season, which includes state semi-finalist Alleghany, who beat the Cougars in the region championship game last season. Tough opposition is nothing new for the Cougars, with many of the players having a history of success going back to playing Dixie Youth baseball together.
“These guys know how to win. They’ve known how to win for years. They won when they were young. They’re not going to get freaked out over being the hunted because they’ve always been winners and they have an expectation to win,” he said.
“I mean, these guys won state championships when they were young kids in Dixie Youth,” said Swails. “Some teams can be talented, but they may not know how to win. These guys know how to win. There’s nobody we’re going to play that they’ll be wide-eyed over.”
Coach Swails knows that as good as the team can be, it is a long season and there are many things that have to fall their way in order to make another deep postseason run.
“Things have to work out. You’ve got to stay healthy, you’ve got to get some breaks. You’re going to have bad days. It’s how you play through those bad days” that will determine success, he said.
The Cougars will field an experienced team, losing just two starters from last year’s team. Among the returning players will be senior Tucker Swails, 2023 VHSL Class 2 Player of the Year, whose season included the first perfect game thrown by a Cougar.
With the returning talent, Coach Swails and his team are ready to get the season started, and looks forward to the challenge of defending a state title.
“We’re going to get everybody’s best shot. Nobody’s going to look past us, that’s for sure. Everybody knows what we’ve got back. Everybody knows we’re extremely talented and have a real good shot to go deep again,” said Swails, adding, “It’s going to be a fun year.”
