After guiding his Southeastern Community College baseball team to a 20-26 record last spring in his first season as head coach, Joey Autry is excited about the prospects of SCC’s 2007 season.

Of course, SCC baseball will once again be dealing with a demanding schedule – something that has had the Rams often fighting an uphill battle in recent years.

“Last season was a learning process in a lot of ways,” said Autry, who took over at SCC following a distinguished high-school coaching tenure at West Bladen and Bladenboro. “I was new to the program and that meant that the players had to get used to me and what I brought in.

“This year, all the players we have are ones that I have signed and we’re all on the same page at this point,” he said. “One thing that won’t be different is the calibre of competition in Region 10. We have some of the strongest programs in the country in our region but we use that as a motivator in trying to improve our program each year.

“I don’t mind being the underdog as long as we’re accomplishing the goals we set for ourselves,” Autry added.

Autry hit the recruiting trail had last year and he made a point of going after local talent.

Off of last year’s state finalist 1A team, Autry was able to land Zack Andrews, John David White, Brett Godwin and DeMichael Smith. He also got Justin Creech from South Columbus, Dustin Williamson from Waccamaw Academy and Scott Stephens and Cameron White from Whiteville. Riegelwood resident Dustin Medlin, who played the past two seasons at North Brunswick, also signed.

“We’re looking for all these guys to play key roles for our program over the next two years,” said Autry, a former Bladenboro High and Methodist College player.

Columbus Countians returning from last year’s SCC squad are Brian Sykes, who played at South Columbus, and Jeffrey Caines, who played at West Columbus.

“Having players from the local schools will bring more interest and support to the program, and we want kids from the high schools in Columbus County to know that there is an opportunity to play baseball at Southeastern,” Autry said. “We also draw kids from other areas of North Carolina, other states and even other countries, but we like the idea of being able to go after the best of our locally grown talent.”

The Rams will open their 2007 schedule on Feb. 10 and 11 when they are scheduled to play host to the North Carolina State University club team in a pair of games.

SCC will step into Region 10 play Feb. 17-18 when it will entertain nationally ranked Spartanburg Methodist in a pair of doubleheaders.