The New Baseball Coach

Chad Mercado New Baseball Coach

Takes the Lead

By Scott Cutlip CONTRIBUTING WRITER

 e Greenwood Bulldogs baseball season is currently on hold because of the coronavirus, but Chad Mercado, in his  rst season as coach, looks forward to getting his team back on the  eld, whether it be this season or next.

 e Bulldogs opened with a 3-2 record before the season was suspended. Mercado felt like, despite the slow start (Greenwood lost their  rst two games), the team had a bright future this season and hopefully still does.

 e team Mercado took over has had success in the past and has a talented mixture of veteran players and new blood. Despite this being his  rst season at Greenwood, he didn’t feel the need to change a lot when it came to training and preparation, pointing to Greenwood’s success in the past.

“Coach (Trey) Holloway did a great job before,” Mercado said. “Josh (Holloway) has always been here and Sandy’s been here, and our volunteer Brad Kramer was here. So the question is what do we tweek. So, not like crazy, overarching changes.”

 e biggest challenge, Mercado said, has been coming into an already existing and successful system, starting to learn what the athletes need. Another challenge, he said, is of multiple-sports players. Multiple-sports players are bene cial to the team, because those players are already performing athletically.  e issue is that the team must balance training the players who participate only in baseball with those who play other sports throughout the year.

Asked about some of this year’s standouts, Mercado pointed to Colton Sagely, a senior.

“He’s our most talented guy,” Mercado said. “He’s just a terri c kid. A lot of the kids look up to him, and we know we can count on him every day to be a tough at-bat, and to play awesome center eld and to run the bases hard.”

According to Mercado, Sagely will be attending Oklahoma’s Connors State in the fall. “If he continues to do what he does, and has the mentality that he has, he’s got a

Greenwood’s new head baseball coach, Chad Mercado

Another standout is Matthew Munday, sophomore. Munday has played multiple roles for the team, and Mercado sees him as someone who will excel at pitching. “He’s very versatile,” Mercado said. “He’s done a tremendous job getting himself in shape for this season and really transforming his body. He’s just been a really great example of hard work.”

Landry Jurecka, a junior, is another player Mercado was looking forward to having on the team, but Jurecka unfortunately tore his ACL. “He looked fantastic, and he would have gotten the ball  rst day,” Mercado said. “He would have been our opening day third baseman if he wasn’t pitching. He’s one of those guys who got dealt with an adverse situation. He’s already throwing. He’s already li ing weights. He’s not going to play this year, and we’re taking him to every game, and he’s running a chart. He’s cheering on these guys.”

If the season starts again, and even next season if it comes to that, Mercado says they will be facing an incredibly tough conference, with teams like Little Rock Central, Greenbrier, Russellville, and Vilonia. “ ese are all good teams,” he said. “You can go from  rst or second place in our conference, you get swept in a doubleheader you’re not supposed to get swept in, and you’re not going to the state tournament.”

Mercado, who joined the team a er being an assistant coach at Beebe High School, said his reception by the administration and community has been fantastic.

“Everybody here is family-oriented,” he said. “ ey want to make sure you’re comfortable. If you talk to any coach or teacher here, the ongoing theme has been the support system. It’s consistent. It’s e ective.  ey care, and it makes my job really easy.”

 e attention had happened in the stands, also, with packed attendance. Student Assistance was added this year, with students running charts, creating videos, working the scoreboard, and packing lunches.

Mercado, a Marmelle native, also teaches at the high school, specializing in drone technology and  nancial literacy classes. His wife of nine years, Stephanie, is a   h-grade teacher in Greenwood.  ey have two children: Penelope, 5, and  eo, 2.