Things weren’t necessarily typical heading into Thursday’s matchup between Pineville and Claiborne. For the Mountain Lions, the game was a scrimmage — a chance for the team to work on things before the regular season kicks off on Monday. For the Bulldogs, it was an official game.

While Pineville didn’t keep score, Claiborne did defeat the Mountain Lions.

“I saw some good things. There is definitely a lot of work that we got to do, but a lot of that has to do with us not being able to practice on our field yet,” said Pineville coach Chris Murphy. “(There is) a lot of stuff we got to clean up, but I did see some good things from the guys. Josh Holland came in to pitch, threw strikes and did well. Some guys had some good at bats, which I was pleased with.”

Murphy said some of the things the team has to clean up before the season revolves around communication and fielding. The scrimmage also allowed coaches to observe and see what they can do with the personnel they have.

“I found out what guys I can put in the lineup hitting wise. I know what pitchers I can use going into the season,” said Murphy. “I definitely know what positions guys can play at now and what positions they can’t play at. I’m going to use (the scrimmage) as a positive tonight.

“I know some of the guys are upset because we got beat, but we’re going to use this as a teaching tool and kind of go from there. There’s definitely more things to clean up than positives. The main thing is communication. Guys have to be able to talk out there. We’ve got to work on some situations. That is something we haven’t got to do really at all.”

Murphy said the team can fix the communication issue and the little things. He said there wasn’t anything real big to worry about in regards to things that need to change.

Up Next

Pineville will open the season on the road Monday when they travel to Jellico, Tennessee at 5:30 p.m.

Reach Anthony Cloud at 606-302-9090 or on Twitter @AnthonyCloudMDN