Gipson has been a baseball coach at RNE for three years, this being his second year as a head coach. His first year at RNE their record was 2-19, however last season they were 10-10 and made it 3 rounds in the playoffs.

One of the most notable changes Gipson noticed was the loss of senior leadership and experience.

“We are just rolling with the punches. We are slotted to have at least two freshman starting on Varsity. It will be tuff just because they don’t have a bunch of experience but its the only way for them to learn,” Gipson said.

The RNE baseball program lost a total of 10 seniors, majority of which were starters.

“Baseball isn’t like most other sports where a kid can show up and you can show them what to do and they are able to do it. Baseball you only learn through reps,” Gipson said. “I think the inexperience may come in and bite us but with the work we did during the off season I think we will be fine.”

With the loss of experience, the team is having to find other areas to excel in such as the ability to get on base.

“Its baseball I’m always excited, I mean its a new season, a new start. The region polls have us slotted to finish fourth but I think we could sneak into second or third,” Gipson said. “I’m excited to get out here a make some noise.”

Gabe Phillips is a senior catcher who has played at RNE for a total of three years: two years at RNE, transferring, then coming back for his senior year. This is his first year playing under Coach Gipson.

“I think [the season] is going to go pretty well, I think we are going to have some challenges, but I think overall come out pretty well,” Phillips said.

Even with hope for their season, Phillips has some concerns.

“There are going to be some good teams out there with good pitching staff and I think that the pitching staff on other teams are going to be our biggest issue,” Phillips said.

With potential weak points for the Cavs, they are making sure to excel in other spots.

“Our defense is going to be pretty great and I think we have a lot of great things to look out for as far as hitting and base running. We’ve got a lot of fast players,” Phillips said.

Jayson Nash is a senior third baseman and right-handed pitcher (RHP) who has been a been playing baseball at RNE for five years.

“We lost our whole starting lineup besides myself and Jalen, so we got back to that,” Nash said. “Losing seven of your starters is kind of insane so we just have got to get ready to go.”

With the loss of seniors, the Cavs are working to succeed in other skill sets.

“Speed is going to be a good factor of what we have going on this year because as long as we get on base we will be good,” Nash said.

“I am ready to get it over with and have fun and just finish strong,” Nash said.

Jalen Scott is a senior RHP and outfielder who has played baseball at RNE since 7th grade, having been a member on varsity since his freshman year.

“Last season went well, the season before that was rough we were 2-19 but we came back last year and were way better,” Scott said.

Hoping to continue with a winning season the team was working during the off season.

“We were in the weight room the whole fall I think and we’re on the field all of October,” Scott said.

With the loss of seniors, there also came a loss of skills they had.

“We lost a lot of bats [ability to hit] but should have a lot of speed,” Scott said, “We can steal more and get more people on bases.”

“I’m ready for this season, its my senior season,” Scott said.