SIKESTON -- Looking to improve on last year's 6-17 record, Sikeston Legion Post 114 will kick off its summer season this week with a new head coach and a more regional feel.
Taking over head coaching duties from Chris Crosby will be Sikeston head coach Alan Scheeter, who just finished his first season at the helm of the Sikeston Bulldogs.
"It's quite a bit different coaching at the legion level as compared to the high school level," Scheeter said. "Mainly just the off-field stuff is what's different. Baseball is ball and it's going to be played the same way on the field regardless, but it's going to take me a little bit of getting used to.
"The rules are a little different than the high school rules that we use and I think they'll be a little bit of an adjustment period for me."
Returning from last year's squad will be Sikeston's Cord Sheehy and Bell City's Jared Yates. New Madrid County Central's JayShawn McDaniel and Jimmy Ash will make the jump to senior team after playing junior legion last year. Sikeston's Gavin O'Brien will also be making that jump.
Newcomers this year include Sikeston's Patrick Smith and Josh Hampton, NMCC's Austin Godwin and East Prairie's Nathan Maynard.
"A lot of our high school players are going to be playing in different places with prospect teams and things like that," Scheeter said. "So we have quite a few kids from out of town."
Bernie's Austin Hatchel and Dexter's Zach Watkins will also join Post 114.
"It's going to take awhile for us to get kind of comfortable with one another and learn," Scheeter said. "Just the communication and getting on the same page with signs. Having them know what I'm going to expect from them and figuring out what kind of talent level we have."
One thing Scheeter hopes will benefit Post 114 this season is an abundance of arms.
"We should have some depth on the pitching staff," he said. "I think pretty much each one of the kids that we have, minus two or three of them, can pitch. We hope we can can get some quality innings out of JayShawn and we're looking for a lot out of him and from Cord as well."
Post 114 will start their season on Wednesday when they travel to Charleston for the Squirrels' home opener. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
Sikeston's first home game will come on June 6th against Marion.