The season opener is less than a week away, and the Owensboro RiverDawgs have high expectations for their second season in the Ohio Valley League.
The semi-pro baseball team are defending league champs who are ready to fight for another title, and they’ll get to cap off their year by playing in the Bluegrass World Series in Louisville.
By winning the OVL last season, the RiverDawgs earned a spot in the series, which will be played after the conclusion of the 2019 season. The Bluegrass World Series pits collegiate summer teams against squads consisting of former major leaguers.
Owensboro gets to play three games at Slugger Field, and they could face any number of big names. Some of the MLB stars have included Chipper Jones, Johnny Damon and former Apollo High School standout Brad Wilkerson.
First, though, the RiverDawgs are looking to take care of business in their regular season.
“We’re excited about the group of guys we’ve got coming in,” said manager Vic Evans. “We think we’re going to swing the bat really well and score runs. We have a lot of position guys who played every day for their college teams.”
Though there is a little uncertainty on the mound, Evans said the RiverDawgs still think they’ve got some strong arms on the team.
“You don’t always know 100 percent about your pitching,” he said. “We don’t get guys who throw 50 or 60 innings because their coaches shut them down. It’s guys who had 10-15 innings and got a little bit of work. But, we like our arms coming in. We have potential to be really good on the mound.”
Evans expects year two in the OVL to be tougher, especially after winning the title in their inaugural season. In a league growing both in talent and size — they added the Franklin Duelers for 2019 — Evans said it won’t be easy to repeat.
“We were at a little bit of an advantage last year because we were new,” he said. “I don’t think people knew what to expect. We had a really good showing and a great season. Now expectations are higher. It’s always tougher to live up to high expectations than when you’re coming in and there’s no expectation set already.”
With little time between the end of the college season and the start of the summer league, Evans said there’s always a risk the team won’t have time to form a strong bond. He said management typically does a good job in finding the right guys, but it’s one of the bigger hurdles in building a successful team.
“The one thing you never know about is team chemistry,” he said. “There’s some years like last year where everyone gets along really well, but there have been years in the past where the chemistry wasn’t very good. It’s kind of a flip of the coin.”
Only a few days remain for the RiverDawgs to iron out any kinks, as they open the season on May 31 with a home game at Chautauqua Park against Henderson. A three-game homestand continues through the weekend with a game against Franklin and another matchup with Henderson.
Evans said he expects the team to be ready. With simple expectations from the staff and a desire to improve from the players, he thinks it’s a good combination for success.
“The two rules we have is show up on time and play hard,” Evans said. “So far that’s gotten pretty good results for us. “These are guys that are trying to get their game better. They’re here to enjoy their time and their summer, but they’re also here to keep working hard and getting better.”
