Diamond Cougars Prep for Season

After a historic season last spring, the Piedmont Academy Diamond Cougars are working for the start of a new campaign.

Piedmont will travel to Bethlehem Christian Academy today, Feb. 12, for a preseason scrimmage/workout with the Knights.

The 2015 season will also see a new head coach for the Diamond Cougars as long-time assistant Daniel Funt takes the reins of the program.

“During the preseason, we have worked a lot on fundamentals,” Funt said. “We had an intra-squad match-up last week. We are still working on some things like situational batting. Our pitchers are attacking the zone for the most part. We had some good at-bats.”

The Cougars are still without the services of several team members who are still involved in basketball and wrestling.

In today’s event at BCA, Funt said batters will get to face live pitching and work on various situational things in some innings.

“We’ll start some innings with a runner on first or runners on first and second,” Funt said. “It will definitely be a controlled scrimmage.”

The event at BCA will be the only preseason work against another school. The two teams will meet in their respective season openers Thursday, Feb. 26 in Monticello. The game will pit the defending Class A state champion (BCA) against the defending Class AA state champion (Piedmont.)

While the Cougars are continuing to compete in AA this spring, the Knights have moved up to Class AAA in the GISA.

Coach Funt said the Middle School Diamond Cougars have also begun preseason practice.

“We have a lot of talent on our Middle School team,” Funt said. “We have a scrappy bunch of kids.”