A familiar face will be skippering Resurrection Catholic baseball this season.
Ryan Jordan, who was the coach of the Eagles in 2007, returns to the dugout after Aron Frederick stepped down following a 26-8 campaign that ended with a South State championship run where RCS dropped two of three games against Taylorsville in the 1A South State title series.
Jordan knows he has some huge shoes to fill. The Eagles have won two Class 1A state championships in the last three years.
“Resurrection has had great leadership, and I’m privileged and honored to be a part of that,” Jordan told 228 Sports after accepting the job at the end of last season. “Hopefully, I can leave a small mark.”
Jordan will field a young Eagles team this season. Of nearly 1,000 at-bats last season, returning veteran players had only 100. Junior infielder Phillip Lachaussee had 75 of those 100.
Jordan’s biggest challenge starting the season is developing confidence in his players.
“The talent is there,” he said. “We have to make sure they are prepared mentally to handle the challenge.”
Key players for the Eagles are Lauchessee, Andrew Harbin, Wyatt Schnoor, Joseph Foster and Quinn Inabinette.
Jordan is impressed with the young talent on the Eagles roster, especially the sophomore group.
“I’m excited to grow that group and continue to build on what we already have.”
He has a simple goal for this season.
“Playing for a South State title.”
RCS opens its season on Feb. 15 when the Eagles host Greene County in a non-region contest.
The Eagles went 11-0 in Region 8-1A last season, but realignment has created an entirely different region. All five teams in the new region made the playoffs a year ago.
Lumberton, which fell in the first round of the postseason, and RCS are the only returning teams in 8-1A. They are joined by traditional baseball power Richton, Stringer and Taylorsville—the defending 1A state champion.
The Tartars are coming off an up-and-down season where they went 25-13 but got hot in the postseason. Taylorsville swept Shaw, Nanih Waiya and Enterprise before taking two of three against RCS in the South State title series.
The Tartars won two of three against Pine Grove in the 1A state championship series.
Richton went 18-9 last year and advanced to the second round of the 2A playoffs.
Stringer posted a 7-20 record, but the Red Devils made it to the second round of the 1A playoffs.
The new Region 8-1A after realignment:
Lumberton
Resurrection Catholic
Richton
Stringer
Taylorsville
