Armed with depth at several places all over the diamond and in the bullpen, the 2025 Bear Baseball Team is pushing to make a run for the playoffs.
Southwest Head Coach Jack Edmonson is anxious to begin year number four in his tenure.
“I’m really excited,” he said. “We’ve got what I feel like is a lot of depth on the mound and offensively we have a good bit of depth there. I feel like we are pretty athletic as a position group. We have 21 arms that can throw for us. Going into the season, I feel pretty optimistic about what we have. And I think that if our team continues to grow together, we should have a good year."
On the mound, the Bears have several pitchers who can be quality starters.
Returning are sophomores Dawson Richard, Noah Russ, Peyton Perdue and Jackson Hawsey, all of whom got multiple starts last season.
Other experienced sophomores are Darius Dampier, Garrison Shows, Davis Knight and Gage Hinnant. Both Hinnant and Knight can also play infield for the Bears.
Brodey Walker is another sophomore who brings experience having spent his freshman season at Delta State.
They join a large group of talented freshmen arms including Matt Newman, Alden Spencer, Rhyson Carroway, Hunter Parker, Nik Carney, Camp Segrest, Cooper Lewis, Cather Hathcock, TK Davis and Will McLeod.
“Last year we had some really good arms,” Edmonson said. “We had four sign with D-I’s. We have two that have already done that this year. We have a good returning group with Darius Dampier, Dawson Richard (to name a few). We also have some really exciting freshmen in Rhyson Carroway, (and) TK Davis who has a powerful arm. We’ve got four or five pitchers who are freshmen who are throwing 90 miles an hour. We have a really talented group. We also have Garrison Shows coming back, who missed last year with a UCL tear, but he has been really good for us so far in the spring.”
Players such as Trace Roy, Andrew Burgess, Cody Presley, Cru Bella, Jake Meilstrip and Lane Steinwinder are all key offensive returners who were huge for the Bears last year. Presley finished second on the team in home runs (5) and RBIs (31) and third in doubles (11).
Edmonson and his staff also have several freshmen infielders in Cameron Bolden, Zayne Landry, Bruner Rushing, Justin Domiano, Jonathon Miller, Jax Albritton, Robbie HoKamp, Easton Boyte and Tanner Moore who will compete for playing time. Albritton and HoKamp are catchers while Boyte and Moore can also excel in the outfield if needed.
Conditioning is an important aspect for a Jack Edmonson team and he made sure this year to implement it on a high level but for more than just making sure that they are in shape, physically.
“We placed an importance on mental toughness this year and in a world of mental illnesses and stuff like that I think that it is our job a coach to help condition that part of their body too,” he said. “It is not like we’re a track team and we run every day but we pick two days a week and we run, and not just run but condition their mind.”
Last season, the Bears played tough competition and came away with wins over Top-10 teams including Lansing, Jones, Southeastern and top-ranked Heartland.
This season will be another test for Southwest, but Edmonson believes that his team is ready. He adds that sophomores who were part of the success can pass along to the younger players what it takes to succeed against highly-ranked teams.
“I think this year we have the chance to do some of that same stuff,” he said. “Last year, we felt like it was our year to explode and we did in some categories. It was just unfortunate that we had several key pieces get hurt. We have a lot of those same pieces back and we’re expecting for that experience to pay off again because we have another tough schedule.”
Edmonson also recently named his captains for the 2025 squad in Trace Roy, Davis Knight and Gage Hinnant, with Hinnant becoming the first two-time captain of Edmonson’s tenure.
Assistant coaches Tyler Graham and Nate Oswalt will be back on the staff this season. Edmonson is also excited to welcome new coach Brady Spring to the staff.
Another new addition that Edmonson is excited about is the renovations to the Bear Baseball Stadium, which are in the process of getting done presently.
Due to the work being done, the Bears will open the regular season away from Summit as they kick off the 2025 campaign Saturday at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson with a 2:00/4:30 p.m. double-header against Southern Arkansas University Tech. The two teams will meet again on Sunday at noon in a single contest.
