Sacred Heart baseball continues to build foundation

As the Sacred Heart baseball program enters its fourth season of playing on the varsity level, there is a sense of optimism around the program as it continues to grow.

The Knights have improved each of the past three years under the coaching of Joe Jarquin, as he has started this program from the bottom and worked on building a solid foundation.

"We only have 106-108 kids at our school, and there are only so many guys that play a certain sport at our school," Jarquin said. "We have always had 15 or less on the team, and the schools we play usually have around 25."

This season, Sacred Heart has five seniors on the team, the most in program history.

"Three of them were there the first year that we played varsity, and the other two came on as sophomores," Jarquin said.

Riley Greer, Hunter Tims and Austin Winkelman are the three that have been there from the start, while Matt Storms and Tyler Currie enter their third year of playing varsity baseball.

"Our freshman year, we didn't win a single game," Winkelman said. "Our sophomore year, we kept looking better and better. Junior year we got to .500."

Winkelman became the first Sacred Heart baseball player last season to earn All-West Tennessee honors. He was named to the second team after he went 6-2 with a 1.71 ERA and 40 strikeouts.

He already has two wins this season over Liberty and Bradford.

"It feels great to go from not winning a game to doing this well early," Winkelman said. "Whenever someone on the team gets down, you have to pick them back up. If they get down, it brings more people down, so you have to bring them up."

At the beginning, there was one major weakness for the Knights.

"Developing pitching was the hardest part as we figured out who could throw," Jarquin said. "We didn't have many pitchers, so we struggled with depth early on. You would send the next guy out, and they had to learn as they went."

But that is where a reliable arm like Winkelman helped the program from the start.

"I am here, so I was willing to play wherever he needed me," Winkelman said. "Pitching is something I enjoyed doing growing up. I would go outside with my dad and pitch. Everyday we would pitch, so I got into a groove of it."

This group of Sacred Heart players has been resilient to develop this into a baseball program.

"The first couple years it felt like pick-up ball," Jarquin said. "Whoever was a warm body, grab your glove and come play. As it has gone on, it has felt more like a baseball program. They see what we are trying to do."

Last season, the team went 12-12, and that was a stepping stone on the path to becoming more competitive against the teams in the district and in West Tennessee.

"That was a step in the right direction last year," Jarquin said. "Hopefully, this can be our first season over .500."

Heading into this week, Sacred Heart is 3-1 with the best start in program history.

"A great way to end my senior year would be to have a winning season," Winkelman said. "We have never had one of those."

Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.