Bulldogs baseball Coach Robert Hedrick is excited about what he has to work with this season.

The King’s Fork High School baseball team has only been able to get on the field once this season in official play, but the athletes are excited about the potential of the season. King’s Fork finished 11-11 last season and are looking to surpass its finish from last season.

“I am really looking forward to our year this year,” Hedrick said. “I am excited about what we have returning. I feel like we have a really good team this year.”

Returning for the Bulldogs will be Chris Allen, Juan Marrero, Mason Brown and Noah Floyd. Brown will provide solid pitching for the Bulldogs this season. He has added a curveball to his repertoire that Hedrick and his staff are excited about. Allen has committed to play baseball for the University of Maryland—Eastern Shore. The coaching staff believes they have talent at each position and that this is one of the fastest teams they have been able to coach.

Hedrick believes that the chemistry of the team will be as high as it has been since he has been coaching the team. The players love what they have going, and Hedrick believes the players feel like they have a genuine brotherhood this season.

“We are building young men to be better not just on the field but off the field as well,” Hedrick said. “I feel like these kids understand that concept, and I feel that is going to go a long way for us this season.”

The schedule has shifted back to strictly Southeastern District play. The Bulldogs know that in order to get to where they want to go, they will have to compete hard among the best of the best in the district — twice. With King’s Fork being a Class 4 school, playing this style of schedule will help prepare them for the postseason.

Even though the Bulldogs lost their first game 13-0 to Hickory High School, Hedrick believes his team played better than what the score indicated.

“We kind of fell apart there in those last couple of innings, but we played better than what the score showed,” Hedrick said. “I think this schedule will help our guys. In a way, I am kind of glad it went back to the old format. We want to go out there and beat the teams that we should and show the big boys what we have.”

With the weather the last couple of weeks, King’s Fork has only been able to get on the field on a handful of times, but with spring here, the players and coaches are hoping the weather breaks soon. King’s Fork is set to host Grassfield High School at home at 5:30 p.m. Friday.