The Conway baseball team has had quite a bit more to battle this season than just the team in the other dugout.
Youth and Mother Nature have put somewhat of a damper on the early portion of the season. Rain has kept the Cats, who have 11 underclassmen on the roster, from some of its games. Still, Conway has posted a 7-2 record thus far.
Once the rain leaves the field of play, Cats coach Noel Boucher feels confident the other aspects can clear up as well.
"We're doing OK. We still have to do a better job of battling through adversity," Boucher said. "We're getting better every time we play. It's just the little things that's giving us some problems right now losing concentration and focus.
"We've still got some mental issues to work on. Once we do that, we'll be OK."
Conway started the season winning its first six games before falling to 7A-Central foe Bryant 3-1 last week in its conference opener. The Cats took one of two games in a rain-shortened tournament at Mountain Home last weekend.
A 2-run homer by sophomore Ryan Valovich in the bottom of the seventh inning helped Conway defeat West Plains, Mo., 7-6 in the first game. Blake Blaylock also homered in that game.
But Boucher was just as impressed with the Cats battling through adversity in that contest. Conway trailed 5-0 before Stephen Hicks plated two runs with a double.
"That got us rolling a little bit," Boucher said. "The guys did a good job of coming back."
In their second game of the tournament, the Cats fell to Greenwood 8-5, as Zach Cates suffered his first pitching defeat in quite awhile. Things started well for Conway in that game but didn't end that way.
"We played well the first three or four innings," Boucher said. "The wheels then kind of came off. We just didn't play well at the end."
That's something Boucher knows can be corrected. It's also something he knows isn't characteristic of the team once the kinks are worked out.
"We've just got to work on settling in and playing our game and not getting turned up when someone else scores or an umpire makes a call we don't like," Boucher said. "We've got some talented kids. When someone makes an error, though, pressure builds."
So, how do these Cats make these improvements? "We just need to get some playing time," Boucher said. "We're swinging the bat OK, pitching OK and playing defense alright. We just need to put it all together."
That's not to say the bright spots are too few and far between.
"I really like the mechanics part of baseball on this team," Boucher said. "They're taking coaching really well and doing what we need them to."
What's more, the season is still young, and there is adequate time for these improvements. Things, though, won't be easy now that the heart of the conference schedule is approaching. Bryant, North Little Rock and Little Rock Catholic are teams Boucher considers the favorites in the conference.
The Cats may be right there with those teams when everything is said and done. But if Conway is going to reach the state title game again this year, Boucher knows there is one key factor in doing that.
"Consistency," he said. "Any group that makes a run like we did last year has to be consistent."
The Cats will have another opportunity to get work in provided the weather cooperates this weekend in the Conway Festival. Sylvan Hills and Fort Smith Southside will also take part in the event. Conway is scheduled to start play in the festival against Sylvan Hills at 5 p.m. Friday.
Whoever the opponent, though, the Cats want to play. That's something Boucher said will be a big step in continuing improvement.
"The more we play and get guys calmed down, we'll be OK," Boucher said.
