Buchholz Boy’s Baseball Opens Season Against Chiefland

The Buchholz High School boy’s baseball team will begin its season against the Chiefland Indians. The Bobcats will look to improve on their 2019 season, where they went 17-9, but did not go anywhere in the postseason. As for the Indians, they finished 2019 with a record of just above .500, at 14-11.

Senior Leaders

The Bobcats enter the 2020 season with six seniors on the roster; Parker Green, Luke Baker, Greg Knox, Corbin Grantham, Brandon Martin and Austin Akey. These seniors are all crucial parts of the Bobcat roster, and the majority of them are committed to play at the next level. Akey will play at Santa Fe college. The second baseman was a preseason Honorable Mention for Perfect Game’s All-American list in 2019. 

Baker committed to the University of Mississippi in November of 2019. The 6’6″ left-handed pitcher participated in the 2019 Perfect Game National Showcase; his fast ball currently tops out in the high 80s, but according to Perfect Game, there is a “good chance his stuff continues to gradually improve as he gets stronger.” He already has multiple breaking balls in his arsenal and will only improve as he continues to develop. He hopes to not have any losses on his record this season and strike out 100 batters.

LHP Luke Baker (2020, Gainesville, FL) sitting 88-90 on the FB picking up 2 Ks in his first inning of work at #FLWS. #OleMiss commit. pic.twitter.com/E3fkoDICEN

— Tyler Russo (@Russterrr01) June 1, 2019

Baker spoke about his expectations for the team this season.

“As a team, we have a lot of youth this year,” Baker said. “I just want these younger players to have fun and enjoy the season. If we can piece together at-bats offensively and limit our walks as a pitching staff, we should be just fine.”

Grantham is also playing in the SEC. He committed to Mississippi State last August. Son of the Gators’ defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, the 5’11″ outfielder runs a 6.37 60-yard dash and has a 10 yard split of just over a second. Those times put him in the top one percent of the 2020 class in terms of speed. He was named an Honorable Mention for the 2019 Perfect Game preseason All-American list. 

#uncommitted 2020 Select CF Corbin Grantham with a 2B off the left field wall #WWBA17u pic.twitter.com/6sBylE7bBp

— ScorpsCenter (@ScorpsCenter) July 1, 2019

All three of these seniors will look to make an impact against Chiefland, hoping to start off the season with a win. 

Time and Place

First pitch is at 7:00 PM on February 11 at Buchholz High School.