Coaches ready

By Nick Duke | Troy Messenger

Published Tuesday, July 28, 2009

With the Junior Dixie Boys World Series just a few days away, the players on the state champion Troy tournament team are preparing to try and bring home a World Series championship.

No preparations, however, can be made, without a group of coaches there to guide the team.

Fortunately for the players, their coaches all have World Series experience and will lean on that experience to try and help bring home a championship to Troy.

“The World Series is going to get a lot stronger and better and more intense in everything about it,” head coach Sam Kitchens said. “It’ll be even more of what we saw at state, so we have to be prepared for that.”

This weekend’s World Series will be the fourth Kitchens has coached in.

“I’ve coached in a few World Series,” Kitchens said. “We’ve been in the World Series in 1995, 1998, 2004 and now this year. It’s quite an experience.”

Allen Blackmon, an assistant coach also has World Series experience, as he was an assistant coach when Troy played host to a World Series in 2007.

“The fanfare, the pomp and circumstance, there’s just no comparison,” Blackmon said. “The World Series is what everybody works for. To be part of it is a very moving time and a very exciting time.”

Kitchens said the abundance of World Series experience the team has from both players and coaches will help to make the experience more enjoyable.

“These kids are enjoying it and they’re looking forward to it,” Kitchens said. “Several of them have played in a World Series before and two of them actually won a World Series when they were nine and ten year olds. So, it’s a lot of fun and an adventure that they’ll enjoy.”

Blackmon, for one, is also looking forward to the World Series.

“It’s really exciting,” Blackmon said. “I’m looking forward to it. The kids have all worked real hard for this.”

While the team is excited about getting to participate in a World Series, Kitchens said the team is focused on more than just participating.

“We feel like in the World Series we can compete and play with people,” Kitchens said. “I think we’ll do well down there. We’ve got an excellent chance to represent the community well and to win it. If we play like we’re capable of, we can win it.”

Assistant coach Russ Harris, however, said the team has to remain focused on playing good baseball.

“It’s just a higher level and a little stiffer competition,” Harris said. “You still have to do the same things to win.”

Kitchens said while his team knows what to expect from an emotional standpoint, the baseball aspect of things s still somewhat of a mystery, as not much is known about the Arkansas team Troy will face in the first round.

“I’m sure they’ll be good and we’ll see the best pitcher they’ve got, so that’s all we really know about them right now,” Kitchens said. “But, I think that’s to be expected.”

Troy will open World Series play Saturday at 4 p.m. against Arkansas.

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