Blaze Day, Garrett Love, Nick Nowell and Scotty Hocking are all starting on varsity as sophomores and impacting the whole team. 

There are only three starting seniors on the team, with quite a few juniors taking up a lot of the playing time. However, the class with the most potential and the highest ceiling is, without a doubt, the sophomores. 

Scotty Hocking starts at shortstop and is one of the best and most skilled players, fundamentally and mechanics-wise. 

Garrett Love is starting at third base and is one of the only guys who has been consistently hitting well in the first three games. 

Nick Nowell is starting in the outfield and has been one of the strongest hitters on the team and has a near-perfect swing. 

Blaze Day is starting in the outfield, and after playing for the C-team last year, Day has grown a lot and matured and is now an everyday starter on varsity, getting more playing time than a lot of upperclassmen. 

When asked about how they feel about earning a lot of playing time, Nick Nowell said, “I understand that a lot of the upperclassmen might not be thrilled losing some time to us younger guys, but at the end of the day, we’re here to help win games and the best players will play regardless of seniority.” 

Scotty Hocking said, “Regardless of being one of the younger guys on the team, I feel like I work just as much as any of these guys, and I’m glad to share a playing field with them. I’ve earned my spot, and I will continue to work and prove that I belong here.” 

Garrett Love said, “Sophomores having playing time doesn’t have any negative effects and has nothing to do with the rough start to the season. Our team hasn’t played a lot together, so we need time to gel and form together as a team, and I think once that happens, the overall team performance will improve”. 

These sophomores are very talented, but they are inexperienced and haven’t seen much high-level pitching. Once this team is formed, they have a very high ceiling and the sophomore class will continue to shine for the next three years.

Lakeland will look to bounce back from their 0-3 start in their tournament in Boise over spring break.