Laney baseball hoping to repeat last year’s breakthrough

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) — Area baseball teams are back at practice and none advanced further in the playoffs last season than Laney.

The Bucs made it all the way to the state championship, but lost the series to now three-time defending champion T.C. Roberson.

Head Coach Justin Bradley returns for his fourth season and spent the offseason reflecting on their breakout campaign, but is focusing on what lies ahead.

(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)

He feels the Carolina Coast slate alone will be a challenge and is glad to have several players back with deep postseason experience.

“That’s really important,” Bradley said. “It makes things a lot easier. Obviously, we can’t go out there and just roll the ball out. We got to still go and compete. We got a lot of guys coming back that played some big innings and had some big moments in some big games. That helps a lot. It keeps things a lot more sane, I guess would be the word I would use. It keeps everything a little bit calmer.”

Among other strong area teams is Ashley, who was in the 2024 championship series.

(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)

Laney remains determined to bring a title back to Wilmington. Senior pitcher Jason Sproull says what happened last year serves as extra motivation this time around.

“We’ve been hungry ever since we lost that last game,” Sproull said. “I think we’ve kept that hunger to today and I think we’re going to keep it going for the rest of the season. Hopefully finish the job that we didn’t finish last year. We’ve built that bond even stronger than last year and we’re going to keep pouring it on this year.”

Sproull is one of many talented baseball players in the area and is committed to play at East Carolina.