Lovelady, other young Bearcats to test Bernie

The Dexter High School baseball squad is an interesting mix of experience and glaring youth this spring, but second-year coach Steve Edwards is molding the two in a fairly successful manner, thus far.

“These (young) kids have played a lot of baseball, even before they got (to our program),” Edwards said of his young roster. “Now they are getting accustomed to me, the coaching staff, and how we run things here.”

The Bearcats (2-2) will face a tough test today at 4:30 p.m. when they travel to Stoddard County rival Bernie (4-2) at 4:30 p.m.

The schools’ two softball programs will battle 40 feet away at the same time.

Dexter has a lot of talent and experience at the top of its order in juniors Nolan Alford, Beau Carrier, and Jackson Howard, however, Edwards also starts freshmen Justus Lovelady (center field and pitcher), Trey Pedigo (shortstop), and Jaxon Miller (catcher), as well as sophomores Gibson Booker (pitcher and center field) and Houston Neely (left field and pitcher).

“The older boys are bonding with the (young players),” Edwards said. “They feel like a part of the family.”

In the case of Lovelady, the Dexter veterans need to bond with him, because he is going to be in the lineup for the next three-plus seasons.

Lovelady is playing well beyond his age, so far, both at the plate and on the mound.

“He is really deceiving on the mound,” Edwards said of the right-hander. “His wind-up is kind of slow, but the ball just jumps on you.

“He has a good curveball and a good breaking ball.”

Offensively, Lovelady tallied a couple of hits in a recent loss against Class 6 power Jackson and went 5-for-5 against New Madrid County Central in a recent Bearcat win.

“With Lovelady,” Edwards explained, “coaches use that analogy of a high ceiling. He has a huge ceiling. He’s going to grow and get bigger, faster, and stronger.”

Edwards already envisions a more physically mature Lovelady topping 90 m.p.h. on the mound by the time he finishes his career.

“He’s throwing it pretty well now,” Edwards said. “With our projection, if he stays on pace, his senior year, he could probably be a 92 or 93 (m.p.h.) guy.”

For Bernie, it too, is in a similar situation of having to play young players after graduating a lot off of last year’s MSHSAA Class 2 Sectional 1 winning team.

“Honestly,” veteran Mule coach Marcus Massey said recently of his team, “we are about right where we need to be. We started our season 4-0, and being young like we are, with just one senior (Jayden Robinett) who plays every day.”