With the season set to get rolling in the next few weeks, both the baseball and softball programs at Three Rivers College enter the 2023 campaign with high optimism of potential big seasons spurred on by improvement of areas of importance and some of the freshmen talents that has arrived on campus.

On the baseball diamond, third-year head coach Tyler Smith is getting the Raiders baseball program trending in the right direction and the hope is that 2023 will continue that roll.

In 2022, the Raiders finished 25-30 overall which was one of the better win totals in recent memory, bettering the 20-27 campaign in Smith’s first go as the program’s head coach.

The season is set to start at Southern Arkansas for a doubleheader.

The fall ball calendar offered a glimpse of how good things could end up.

“We start on Jan. 9 so it will be a quick turnaround (to the first game),” Smith said. “We had a good fall ball season and beat a Division I program (Lindenwood) and had 30 guys have a 3.0 or better — that’s 80-90 percent of our roster. We added some guys during break and might add one or two more and get rolling.

“I really like how our pitching handled itself and kept us in games. We were pretty much in every game. From a position player standpoint, I really like our group — the guys have been working really hard. I think we are going to have a really good spring.”

From last year’s campaign, the program hopes to keep building as the win total was the most since 2013 and had the highest seeding it’s had in the region tournament at No. 6.

“Things moved well and we are trying to build on that momentum,” Smith said. “It’s a constant process of trying to find guys that buy into the process and I think we have that group with us here right now.”

The improved pitching depth will go a long way after suffering outside the top rotation.

“The secret is staying healthy since we had a couple of injuries last year really hurt us,” Smith said. “If we stay healthy everything is always going to be good.”

Smith was an assistant with Three Rivers from 2016 to 2020 and he has seen it all and now he is trying to figure out what his players can and cannot do.

“The main thing is getting our culture built and how we are going to play the game — our energy, effort and how intense we are going to be in each game,” Smith said. “Baseball is different since it is a 7-8 hour day (because) we play doubleheaders. So how are we going to stay focused and locked in for eight hours because it boils down usually to one out, one inning, and one pitch.

“It usually boils down to how focused you are.”

Smith is ready to get rolling as soon as his boys arrive in Poplar Bluff.

“You got to be ready to go and hopefully they did what they were supposed to do over the break and will be ready to get after it,” Smith said.

On the softball diamond, Lady Raiders coach Jeff Null heads into his seventh year as the team's head coach and will aim to get the team back to the national tournament, where they last made a trip in 2021 and previously in 2018

The team had a busy offseason and fall ball campaign coming off last year’s 33-15 record that included elimination from the Region XVI tournament after a 2-2 run and a 6-2 loss to North Central Missouri.

“We hit the weights a lot heavier in the offseason and the kids had a really good offseason barring a couple of injuries we had,” Null said. “The majority of the kids made gains. I felt they did a great job in the classroom and ended up with a 3.53 GPA — and 10 of the 19 got a 4.0 so I was very happy about that.

“Going into this last month off that we get is a scary time for coaches because you work their tail off and then you send them home. But they are self-motivated kids and you can tell they take their business so I suspect they are working this month off on their own.”

The Lady Raiders were around .500 during fall ball playing a mix of JUCO, NAIA, D2, and NCAA D1 teams.

“It was a great schedule for our kids and they were able to play some really good competition and some schools they might want to go to one day,” Null said. “I thought we played really well. We have a young group overall and don’t bring back a whole lot. Throwing them to the wolves, they can compete with their ability, the mental side of it is where we have the most growth to make. I am a big believer that kids learn the hard way. A little failure is a part of it.

“The offseason we focused more on getting stronger. Not all of them come from programs that have a weight program at all. We eased into it and taught a lot of form, but by the end, you can tell about us physically. I am super pumped for where they are at. I think they are excited and ready to get back after it. They will be back soon enough.”

Null said the team has improved in the area of team chemistry and togetherness which waned over the previous year or two. The team has a smaller roster size of 19, but Null is happy with the progress.

One big deal is the schedule includes a trip to Oxford, Alabama at the end of February and the location of the JUCO championship tournament at Choccolocco Park. It’s all about getting as familiar as possible with the diamond they hope to end their season on.

“It’s a stacked field,” Null said. “We have one of the toughest regions — the top half is really loaded. We are going to have some knockdown drag-outs. Whoever comes out of our region is going to have a good chance of going to the (national tournament).”

Null is 202-72 over his tenure with Three Rivers and this year could be one that sees another push toward excellence.

“We have a good group and we are going to compete for the (Region XVI) title,” Null said.

The season gets rolling on Feb. 16 against Motlow State at the Tigerfest Tournament in Booneville, Mississippi, host of Northeast Mississippi.

Alan Dale - Daily American Republic