Last season, the Blessed Sacrament Huguenot Knights finished runner-up in the Virginia Colonial Conference (VCC) and qualified for the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) state tournament for the 12th time in the last 16 seasons as the number seven seed.

The season before that, the Knights finished fourth in the VCC.

Every year, weve improved, Blessed Sacrament Huguenot baseball coach James Poore said. Now, its just a matter of putting it all together. Weve got a lot of guys coming back. Weve got some good baseball players.

Coming into the 2017 season, the Knights lost just two seniors from last years team. Tanner Dobrucky, a second team All-VCC selection also departed for Douglas Freeman.

Among the returning players are Carter Davis, who was a first team All-VISAA selection last season, as well as Coleman Smith and James Heldmann, just to name a few.

James Heldmann had a fantastic year pitching, Poore said. He threw a ton of strikes and didnt walk a lot of people. He pitched really good baseball. Hitting wise, you had Coleman do extremely well. Behind the plate, Carter did extremely well. We hit the ball really well.

As a team, Poore said that they hit at over a .300 average last season.

But, he does want to work on the defense side of the ball.

I think we struggled a bit defensively, he said. Were going to work on that a lot, thats something I really want to focus on.

As far as new faces go, Chris Gupton is one player that Poore feels can make an impact this season for the Knights.

He played basketball and football for us, Poore said. (Gupton) played at Hermitage last year. He played the outfield for them. I havent seen him play much, but watching him play other sports, hes a really good athlete and a really good teammate. I think hell be a perfect fit for the team.

Just like last year, the Knights will face some of the best teams in the area when it comes to private school baseball.

Collegiate, the defending Division-I state champions, Steward School and Trinity Episcopal are just some of the teams that Blessed Sacrament Huguenot will face this year.

Were going to play some good people, Poore said. The reason we do that is because I believe that I have some good kids, some good ballplayers. I think it pays dividends at the end of the year when youre facing tougher teams like that.

As far as what Poore would like to see from his team throughout the season, his mantra is simple.

Ive already told the guys this, but theyre goal should be to win every pitch, to win every inning and do that for seven innings, he said. Everything else will take care of itself.

The Knights begin the year on Mar. 15 against Walsingham Academy at 4:30 p.m.

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Blessed Sacrament Huguenot baseball looking to continue VCC ascension - Richmond.com