Van Buren teammates share laughter, hard work

Good pitching, solid defense and clutch hitting from everyone on the roster has been a difference-maker for the Van Buren Pointers. But senior left fielder Conner Catron says there’s more to pitching, snagging line drives and delivering two-out RBI doubles. For Van Buren, it starts with laughter. “This group of guys, every day we come out and have a great time,” Catron said. “No one doesn’t like each other; everyone loves each other. It’s just a great group of guys.” That formula was on display for much of March, when the Pointers won 10 games. The beat continued this week, too, with a clean doubleheader sweep of Heritage. Catron had two hits to keep his smoldering batting average in the 400s (.435). Van Buren shut out Heritage 3-0 and 12-0 Monday and Tuesday. The team’s talented pitching staff has logged 19 consecutive innings of shutout baseball. The Pointers (13-1) travel to Greenwood today for a nonconference game. “Everyone is smiling and having a good time, and we’re doing pretty good on the field,” Catron said. “I bet everyone on the team would say the same thing.” Catron pauses. Taking out his phone, he pecks out a quick group text to his teammates. His phones begins blowing up. “I texted the guys and asked them to give me a phrase that describes our team,” Catron said. “About every one of them said something along these lines: ‘We’re a family that works hard.’ “No one is being lazy; every guy out there is doing something special.” Catron is old school. He would play catcher, pitcher, shortstop or third base. He would chalk the field, too, if called upon. “I’ve bounced around all over,” he said. “I played catcher when I was a freshman. I’ve played some at shortstop, third base and the outfield. I’ve never played one position. “But once I got older, I really started playing more outfield.” The fleet-of-foot outfielder has settled in nicely in left, playing alongside a burgeoning star in the making named Landry Wilkerson. “That kid is going to be great,” beams Catron. “He gets to everything hit to him.” No respect Van Buren asserted itself quickly. Catron said coach David Loyd challenged his team in the season opener. Prior to taking their first cuts against Southside on Feb. 28, Loyd told his players no one outside of their own circle had much faith in them. A fire was lit. “Last year, we would we would get a hit or two and leave runners in scoring position,” Catron said. “This year, it’s been different.” It started with Loyd’s short spiel. “He told us we were ranked 14th out of 16 (7A teams),” Catron said. “That really fueled the fire.” The Pointers opened the season with 10 straight wins. After dropping the opener of a series with Bentonville last week, a game they lost 3-2, Van Buren responded with a 7-0 win behind the stellar pitching of Trevor Johnson. That’s the way it’s been. Tuesday, Johnson pitched a five-inning perfect game in the Pointers’ 12-0 win over Heritage. Players pick each other up, Catron said. “Whoever gets the job done is going to be out there,” he said. “Every day (Loyd) has a different joke for us; we have a good time. “But when it’s time to get serious, we get down the business.” Good advice Like thousands of little leaguers, a freckle-faced Conner Catron pulled on his tee-ball jersey and played for his dad, Kyle. There were lots of home runs, missed throws and post-game snow cones. But as Catron grew older, his dad thought it was better to let Conner progress on his own. “He coached me until the first year of pitching machine,” Catron said. “He never wanted me to be given a spot because he was the coach. “He wanted me to earn my position.” Catron and fellow Van Buren senior Ethan Holmes were tee-ball teammates that first season. “Ethan and I would always try and hit the ball to the fence,” Catron said. “Baseball’s always been my favorite game. “I have a (batting) cage in the back yard.” Travel ball Catron played with a group of his current Van Buren teammates, the Green Sox, for close to five years before progressing to the Arkansas Prospects, a group of northwest Arkansas players from various schools. Last summer, Catron had logged a lot of miles playing baseball. His team, in fact, took cuts at Baum Stadium, TCU’s Charlie and Marie Lupton Baseball Stadium at Williams-Reilly Field, Oklahoma’s Dale Mitchell Park and Brown-Stroud Field at the University of Central Arkansas. “I played with guys like Alex Flagg, the catcher at Fayetteville, and a bunch of guys from Heritage — (Dylan) Qualls, Caleb (Gavin) and (Noah) Guill. It was a lot of fun.” Kind of like 2017. “We’ve just got to keep throwing strikes and play defense,” added Catron. “The runs will come; this team can hit. We’ve thrown strikes and scored runs. I don’t know what our fielding percentage is, but I’m guessing it’s pretty good.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Van Buren High School Athletics

VAN BUREN TEAMMATES SHARE LAUGHTER, HARD WORK

KEVIN TAYLOR

Times Record | 4/6/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Van Buren High School