A next-level approach
Buckingham County High School’s varsity baseball team fields a junior-laden squad this year that is looking to improve under a new head coach.
Taking over the program is Trey Lawson, who has been around the game of baseball his entire life.
“I played at Goochland High School from 2000-04,” he said. “When I was in college, I got my first coaching job as the head coach for Goochland Middle School baseball. I also served as an assistant coach at Cumberland (County) High School for a season. Through the years I have coached a number of Dixie Youth league teams at the 17-19-year-old age group. I was also a (junior varsity) JV baseball coach here at Buckingham High School the past two seasons before getting the job as the varsity head coach.”
The Knights have had a rough start to the season, going 0-3 thus far, but Lawson enters the year with confidence in what the team can do.
“I feel like we have the ability to take this program to the next level,” he said. “I expect us to compete more than last year’s team and be in games. If we can get our mentality right, we can put ourselves in a position to win games. There were flashes last year of what they are capable of, but we have got to be more consistent.”
Buckingham went 4-14 last season, including a first-round loss in the Region 2C playoffs.
“I look for some of our guys to step up this year and give us more opportunities to win,” Lawson said. “I have a great group of athletes on this team and we are trying to make them in to a great group of baseball players. We will do that by learning to be disciplined at the plate and in the field and also by being young men with high character that are not afraid of working hard. I have also been on them since day one to be more aggressive and go out and make things happen instead of waiting for stuff to happen. We have got to learn to control the aspects of the game that we can control.”
This year, the Knights are comprised of two seniors, 11 juniors and two sophomores.
“We have a good core nucleus of guys and are looking for some of the juniors to step up this year,” Lawson said. “Of our two captains that the team voted for, one is senior Peyton Taylor and the other is junior Nathan Brickhill.
“I am excited about our sophomores that are on the team,” he continued. “Amari Toney was on the varsity team last year as a freshman and broke through towards the end of the season as a top pitcher. I look for him to build on that going in to this year. The other is Cody Petersheim who is going to be counted on to put in a lot of work behind the plate. He has shown the ability to work well with the pitching staff and brings a good bat to our lineup. He also gets a chance to learn the position from senior catcher Josh Shumaker.”
Delving into greater depth with regard to the mound, Lawson established that he is expecting four players in particular to lead the way. The first is Taylor, who is right-handed.
“Peyton is another guy who I expect to have a good year at the plate,” Lawson said. “He has also spent all offseason working on his craft, and it has shown. He also has the best glove on the infield and will be a leader as our everyday shortstop.”
The coach said Petersheim, a sophomore, is a young guy but brings a lot of power. He has the ability to be special at the varsity level.”
“I will also get good production from Brayden Edwards, Trevor Kelly, Alex Taylor, Jalen Chambers, Josh Shumaker, James DeVore and Matthew Wright at the plate,” Lawson said. “… We have a lot of guys that have the ability to hit the ball. What will drive us to success is if these guys are able to be consistent throughout the season. I have a lot of depth on this team, and we just need to find the right combination of guys to put on the field.”
On defense, the coach noted that he expects a lot of production from juniors Gabe Rumsey, Darian Lipscomb, and Cole Edmondston.