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Parkway Central Baseball Hoping to Rebound From Tough Start

A challenging schedule and several close losses have led Parkway Central to a 2-11 start this season.

The Parkway Central baseball team is living by its preseason motto, ‘Be Ready to Play in May’.

The Colts, thanks to a brutally tough nonconference schedule, have taken their lumps with a difficult 2-11 start.

But coach Ryan Connors says these March and April losses will pay off soon. Central is looking to make some noise when it gets into the heart of the Suburban South Conference portion of its slate starting April 22 against Summit.

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"I really feel good about what we might be able to accomplish the second half of the season," said Connors. "(We) might not look good on paper, but I definitely feel we're going to get going in the right direction."

The Colts posted an 8-5 win over highly-touted Hazelwood West on Wednesday. They lost their first eight games of the season before beating Lafayette, 4-3, on April 7.

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"The most difficult thing is trying to stay positive," said Connors. "But with 25 games, we knew there would be time to make things work."

Connors had a feeling his club might struggle out of the gate. The Colts returned only two starters from last year's 11-11 squad. They have 14 juniors on their roster.

"There wasn't a lot of experience and I thought it might take a while," he said. "But they're starting to figure it out."

Junior Keith Coulson has led the pitching staff with several high-quality starts. He is 0-2 with a 2.69 earned-run average. Coulson has struck out 22 batters in 26 innings. Second baseman Zach Carel is hitting .364 on a team-high 16 hits, which includes several timely hits over the first month of the season. Sophomore Jack Schneider is batting .316 on 12 hits. Senior Lucas Mueller has added some punch to the attack with two home runs and five runs batted in.

The Colts have more than held their own against their more rugged opponents. Six of their 11 losses have come by two runs or less, including five one-run defeats.

"We're not that far off," Connors said. "We're working hard to win games. We've just got to start putting together a good seven innings."

Central has faced some state-caliber teams, including Vianney (12-2), Westminster (11-1), Oakville (9-2) and DeSmet (9-5).

"That should help us in the long run," said Connors. "You learn from playing good opponents. I guess that's a little bit of consolation."

Connors has been pleased with the progress of his pitching staff. He would like to also see more run production and a more consistent effort defensively.

"I think we know where we need to get better, and we're working on it," he said. "We're a scrappy type team and a team like that can't make too many mistakes."

Despite the slow start, the Colts could be dangerous in conference play. Connors, in his fourth season at the helm, believes his club will finish the campaign on an high note.

"We're really looking forward to improving," he said.

Parkway Central's game at home against MICDS was postponed due to severe weather Friday. Next up is Rockwood Summit on April 22 at Ballwin Park at 7 p.m.

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