Wildcats Baseball Coach Jerrod Hammack Wants His Team to Get Up Off the Mat
After Tuesday (March 26) night’s 11-3 loss to Royse City, Wildcats Baseball Coach Jerrod Hammack told his team a story he had heard about famous boxer Muhammad Ali. He told them that once when Ali had been knocked down unto the mat, he looked around and thought, the champion doesn’t need to be down on the mat. So he got up and continued to fight. Coach Hammack said the Wildcats are now down on the mat and they need to get back up and fight. He called Tuesday’s loss one of the most disappointing ones he’s been a part of in his 14 years in Sulphur Springs. Coach Hammack said the Bulldogs took it to the Wildcats and swung the bats probably as good as they have all season. They also hit the ball hard. Coach Hammack said the Wildcats are just not playing winning baseball right now. He said not enough lead off batters are getting on base. When they do, other players are not driving them in. He said the Wildcats aren’t getting two out hits. The Wildcats left eight men on base Tuesday night. Coach Hammack said the Wildcats don’t have pitchers that are going to strilke out a lot of batters so they need good defensive play behind them. The Wildcats made five errors Tuesday night. He said the team is not really doing anything well right now. Coach Hammack said the Wildcats have to keep fighting, plugging away and working to get better so they can get back to where they were early in the season. The Wildcats opened the season with an 8-1 record. The Wildcats loss gave both the Wildcats and Bulldogs 2-4 district records. The teams complete their three district games Friday night at Royse City. Coach Hammack said the Wildcats have got to play better. He said there are still 9 district games to go but he said if they don’t get going soon, unlike Muhammad Ali, the Wildcats could be left down on the mat.
