Baseball team looking for help

Maher Kawash, Baseball Reporter

Eastern baseball team will host open tryouts this week.
File Photo
Eastern baseball team will host open tryouts this week.

The Eastern baseball team is looking for some help this season, they have scheduled an Open Walk-On Tryout for this week.

The Panthers will host the tryout Thursday at 3 p.m. at Coaches Stadium, and Eastern coach Jason Anderson said it is a great opportunity for a student to try out for a D-1 baseball team.

“We are hoping there is a kid out there in the student body that can improve our team in some way,” Anderson said.

Any interested students should contact assistant coach Blake Beemer at [email protected] or in the baseball coach’s office to pick up prior compliance and physical forms.

The tryout also gives the Panthers an opportunity to add some depth as nine players from last season’s roster have either graduated or transferred from the program.

When it comes to this tryout or adding to the team at all, pitchers may have an upper hand.

“We are not looking for anything in particular, but pitchers always have an advantage over position players,” Anderson said.

Eastern ranked ninth in the Ohio Valley Conference last season, boasting a 7.38 team ERA.

Pitching can be seen as part of the problem for the Panthers as hitters batted .324 against the staff last year.

The Panthers have had some luck in the past with open tryouts, and the latest addition was Matt Doherty in 2015.

“He was the last tryout pick up we got and went on to throw two scoreless innings against Mississippi when they were national ranked,” Anderson said. “You just never know what is out there.”

Whether it is a pitcher or position player, Eastern is trying to build off the 15-39 record they posted a season ago.

Anderson is heading into his second season at the helm and is using his experience to lead the team.

While the team tries to add to its roster, the Panthers are also searching for some clubhouse assistance.

Eastern is looking for interested freshmen or sophomores who want to help out as student managers.

Beemer said the student managers will be expected to perform a variety of duties to assist the coaching staff such as field maintenance, equipment room management and on-field drill assistance.

Those interested in being a student manager must submit a class schedule and cover letter detailing interest in the position and any prior experience.

Maher Kawash can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]