Saluda baseball off to good start in region play despite losing nine seniors

            Saluda – It wasn’t the starting nine, but Saluda High School lost nine seniors from its baseball team that went 16-9 and finished second in Region 2-AA. However, the Tigers are off to a good start this season with a 6-5 overall record and, more importantly, a 3-1 mark in region play.

           “Obviously, losing nine seniors always makes the following year a challenge,” said SHS head coach Travis Mills. “We lost a majority of our offensive production and some key defenders from last year’s team. With that being said, I love the team we have back. They play the game hard and the right way and really enjoy playing together. We’ve had some guys really step up so far this season and I can’t wait to watch them continue to grow.”

           Saluda returns six starters from last year’s lineup. They are senior Manny Dominguez and Jonathan Ouzts, juniors Josh Uhlar and Drew Arant and sophomores Sid Shaw and Brayden Williams.

           Williams is a 2-time All-Region selection who plays center field. Shaw, a left-handed hitting catcher, was All-Region last year. Up the middle on the infield are Arant at shortstop and Dominguez at second base.

           The rest of the infield has freshman Grant Gentry at first and eighth-grader Eduardo Dominguez at third. Uhlar and sophomore Cooper Gantt split time in left, while Gantt, Tristan Daniels and Jeremy Matthews each see time in right.

           Ouzts is a returning starting pitcher and is joined by Uhlar in the region starting rotation. Arant, Williams, Shaw and Manny Dominguez all saw time on the mound last season. Gantt, Gentry, Eduardo Dominguez and Matthews are getting innings this year.

           “Our team strengths to this point has been our pitching staff and our defense,” said Mills, who has taken Saluda to the state playoffs the past two seasons, going 1-2 in its district tournament last year. “So far they have kept us in every game. We lost a couple games early due to lack of offensive production.”

           That being said, Mills said his squad seems to be coming together at the plate. The most consistent batting order has Uhlar leading off followed by Arant, Shaw, Manny Dominguez, Williams, Gentry, Eduardo Dominguez, Gannt and Ouzts.

           “Our goal is to have it come down to the final week of the season when we match up with Mid-Carolina,” Mills said. “We want those games to have a region title on the line.“