After finishing 7-14 overall and 4-7 in conference play during the 2024-25 season, the Lakewood Leopards took a slight step backward this spring at 7-16 overall and 3-9 in conference play. However, head coach Austin Tanner believes this year’s team made major strides in areas that may not fully show up in the standings.
With one of the youngest rosters in the area, Tanner said the Leopards continued to compete, improve and mature throughout the course of the season despite dealing with growing pains against varsity competition.
“The biggest thing is, we didn’t quit,” Tanner said. “We kept playing throughout the season.”
For Tanner, the story of Lakewood’s year came down to a handful of innings.
“I went back and looked at it..if we have about five or six innings of baseball back to redo, we’re sitting with five or six more wins under our belt. That was just the story of our year — one bad inning,” Tanner admitted.
With only two seniors, Sam Faircloth and Landon Pope, and just three juniors on the varsity roster, Lakewood spent much of the season relying on underclassmen. Tanner noted there were games when the Leopards started seven sophomores.
That youth showed at times, especially when opponents put pressure on Lakewood.
“We struggled with stopping the bleeding,” Tanner said. “Once something got rolling in the wrong direction, it kind of stayed going that way. But as the season went on, we got better about that.”
The second half of the year gave Tanner reason for optimism. Lakewood became more competitive, avoided some of the big innings that hurt them early and began taking stronger teams deeper into games.
“I think it was a season of two halves,” Tanner remarked. “The first half of the season, we struggled to finish games. By the second half, we were taking teams that were supposed to beat us by 10-plus or run-rule us, and we were taking them full games.”
The Leopards also picked up wins Tanner believes showed what the program can become, including an upset over Clinton and a home victory against West Columbus.
“We upset Clinton,” Tanner recalled. “We beat West Columbus at home, which was a big win for us.”
Even in losses, Tanner saw a young team beginning to understand how to compete at the varsity level.
“We played competitive with East Bladen,” he added. “We played competitive with everybody in the conference, except Hobbton. Hobbton had our number both times, but it didn’t help that we kind of shot ourselves in the foot.”
The experience gained by Lakewood’s younger players may prove valuable moving forward.
Tanner believes being thrown into varsity competition early will benefit the Leopards in the long run.
“I think you’ll see a different Lakewood baseball team next year,” Tanner said. “I think we’ll be competitive in every game that we play.”
Among the returning pieces is Dylan Drake, who Tanner expects to take on an expanded role as both a pitcher and hitter.
“You’ll see him throw a lot more next year,” Tanner said. “He did a great job on the mound for us this year, and his bat really got hot toward the end of the season.”
Tanner also praised the overall makeup of his young group, describing the players as energetic, competitive and enjoyable to coach.
“They’re just fiery,” Tanner said. “They were very fun to coach. They want to win, but they also understand the game is supposed to be fun.”
That became an important lesson during the year. Tanner felt there were moments early when baseball looked more like work than something his players enjoyed. After that, the Leopards made a conscious effort to bring more energy and joy back to the field.
“We did a better job after that and into the second half of conference, including the Easter tournament,” Tanner noted. “We did a great job of just having fun with everything we did, and in that aspect, we played better.”
The next step for Lakewood will come in the offseason.
Tanner, who also helps coach football, plans to create opportunities for multi-sport athletes to keep baseball in their routine without asking them to give up other sports.
“I love the fact that we have guys who play multiple sports,” Tanner said. “College coaches don’t want single-sport athletes. If you play multiple sports, it shows you are coachable.”
The challenge, he added, is balance.
“You can’t just throw it away and expect to be back to your peak self in January when you first pick it up,” Tanner explained.
To help bridge that gap, Tanner plans to offer optional baseball work once or twice a week when school starts back.
“We’re going to throw that day or hit that day,” he said. “We’re going to have at least two days a week where we go at it.”
For Tanner, those workouts will also reveal who is committed to helping the program take another step.
“You’ve got guys who don’t show up at all, and that tells you all you need to know about where they lie with the game,” Tanner said. “If somebody is in front of you, it’s because he came out here and worked his butt off in the offseason and you didn’t.”
Although Lakewood’s final record showed more losses than wins, Tanner still sees the season as a success because of the growth, youth and competitiveness his team displayed.
“I think it shows that we can compete, even with a young crowd,” Tanner said. “We’re going to do anything to get better. We’re going to compete year in and year out, as long as the guys keep working.”
For a program still building, that work may be the difference between close losses and a major step forward next spring.