The Three Rivers baseball team is gearing towards an improved 2022 season with a young ballclub and high hopes for the year. “I have high expectations for this group this year,” Raiders coach Tyler Smith said. “We have some really good players returning from last year. Cade Cancilla was a first team All-Region pick as an infielder, hit .400 last year. Kolten Poorman was an All-Conference player who just committed to a Division I program. We’ve got a local product with Noah Burkey this year who will be our ace on the mound. “We’re pretty young with around 60% of our roster are going to be true freshmen. We’re going to have to mature quickly.”
The Raiders are coming off of a 20-27 season in 2021 that was filled with a lot of adversity. Particularly with the team’s home field being unavailable for the entire season due to renovations to Roger Pattillo Field. “We played a few home games at Poplar Bluff High School last year, so really not a lot of home days,” Smith said. “This year we have 33 home games, kind of making up for last year a little bit. So that will be nice to be able to play on our home field and not have to have those long bus rides every game. For the guys that came back this year, last season really matured us a lot as it would any team that has to travel.” As for the guys on the field, they’re ready for the season to get going with opening day rapidly approaching. “My expectations are team based,” Cancilla said. “We have high hopes going into the season. We’re a young team, but at the same time, we have a bunch of guys that are really good. We just need to go out there and work our tails off. No one is expecting us to do great things, but we are.”
The pitching staff has also put in the work in the preseason to make sure their arms are ready for game situations. “I haven’t been here for very long, but as long as I’ve been here, we’ve been putting in the work every single day,” Burkey said. “We have a common goal in mind and I’m ready to succeed with these guys.” Smith is entering his second year as head coach and seventh year on the coaching staff at Three Rivers. “I’m an alumni of the program and bleed black and yellow,” Smith said. “We’re trying to take it to the next level. We’ve won three region championships, been to the national tournament, had a first round draft pick. We’re trying to get back to that level and getting quality guys to come through here. “Our region is really competitive so we know everyday is going to be a war,” Smith added. “We’ve got guys from all over. Half our roster are local guys that live within an hour and a half from here and then we have a mix of some guys from Australia and Canada. So we get them from everywhere and try to get the right pieces to see if the puzzle fits.” The Raiders start their season on Sunday and Monday with a couple of doubleheaders at South Arkansas Community College. Their home opener will be on Feb. 11 with a twin bill against Shawnee Community College.
Robert Augsdorfer - Daily American Republic