Cougar Baseball Begins Friday

In what will be an early-season marquee matchup, the Piedmont Academy baseball team will host Bethlehem Christian Academy Friday, Feb. 27, at 4 p.m. in its 2015 opener.

The Cougars are the defending GISA Class AA state champions while the BCA Knights have won back-to-back Class A titles. BCA has since moved up to GISA Class AAA.

The 2015 season will be the first for Daniel Funt as the Cougars head coach. He worked several seasons as an assistant to Danny Camp, who moved on after 17 years with the program to coach at Westfield.

Going into this week, Piedmont’s Diamond Cougars were still missing several players due to basketball season. Those who have been at preseason practice have all worked hard, Funt said.

“Things are going well,” said the new head coach. “We have a good number of talented players and that is going to mean a lot of competition for spots.”

Piedmont and BCA held a co-practice/scrimmage earlier this month and Funt said that event has helped his team preparation wise. This week’s game was originally scheduled for Thursday but was moved up a day due to weather conditions.

“We will use more than one pitcher in our early, non-region games,” Funt said. “We will split the innings between our starter, middle relievers and closers. The starters will work from 3-5 innings. We want to try and get everyone on the field and see who will fit where the best.”

The region schedule is set to begin in approximately three weeks for Piedmont.

“We have a lot of talent and the players’ attitudes have been great,” Funt said. “Several players have earned an opportunity for playing time. I like the vibe of the team and how things have gone in the preseason.”

In terms of transitioning from an assistant to the head coach, Funt said there has not been that big of an adjustment.

“There is some difference in terminology and some differences in how we conduct practice,” he said. “I am a different person, but many of things we are doing are the same.”

While Friday’s game matches two defending state champions who split their regular season series in 2014, both coaches are viewing the game as a way to get better for their upcoming region contests.

“It’s just another of our games where we will try to get better while playing against a talented opponent,” said BCA coach Colby May.

Following the opener with BCA, Piedmont will travel to Trinity Christian School-Sharpsburg on March 5 for a 4 p.m. contest.