Newman remains positive after challenging season

The Twin Rivers Royals baseball team closed out the spring season with a 15-9 record and had an overall record of 30-19 for the year, and won this year’s OFC Championship.

DAR/D’Courtland Christian

BROSELEY — Faced with a lot of obstacles throughout the baseball season, the Twin Rivers Royals showed resilience in the face of injuries and losses.

Though the fall and spring seasons didn’t go as smoothly as head coach Chris Newman had planned, he saw much success within his team despite the constant challenges on the diamond.

“All things considered, we still managed to have a solid season,” Newman said. “We lost two of our main guys in junior pitcher/third baseman Drew Solomon and sophomore pitcher Bo Lilly. It was tough to readjust, but we found a way to pull through. Not many teams thought we could lose some of our main guys and still have some success, so I’m proud of the guys who stepped in and got the job done for us.”

The Royals closed out the spring season with a 15-9 record and had an overall record of 30-19 for the year and won this year’s OFC Championship. Despite their efforts to return to the district championship, the Royals suffered a first-round exit to Caruthersville 3-1.

In the midst of a tough season, the Royals received a spark from within the team. With a few players stepping in to pick up the slack, the Royals were able to pick up some strong wins throughout the year, and those around the district definitely took notice.

Receiving All-District honors were Luke and Jake Hester, Bryce Dollins and Brett Robards, who led the team with the highest batting average.

Newman said the injuries they sustained took away much of the momentum they had from the mound, but everyone stepped in to get the job done in a way that honored the players who were not able to suit up.

“I’m very proud of our players for all they accomplished regardless of adversity faced this year,” Newman said. “Seems like we had lost several key players to injuries in both seasons but our guys stepped up and got the job done. Our senior Brett had a really great season for us and I’m happy to see him sign with Mineral Area College. Overall, everything we accomplished this year was a team effort, and I believe they handled it well, with all things considered.”

Though next season is far off, the Royals will return most of their core and starters, which has Newman excited for what’s to come for the program next year.

“The expectations are always high going into a new season,” he said. “We’re returning all but two of our main starters from our lineup, so expectations are high to fill some of those other spots. Despite everything, we got some valuable experience with those guys being out. We expect to win going into every season, but so does everybody. We’ve learned from this season that we must take everything one day at a time, and we’ll see how we do.”