By CHRISTOPHER JORDAN

COVINGTON, Ga. — The Covington Academy Bulldogs’ baseball team defended its home field recently with a 13-1 win against the Young American Eagles. It was the Bulldogs’ second win of the season. 

Despite the win, the Bulldogs have not had the start they were looking for coming into the 2023 season. 

David York, who is in his first year as Covington Academy’s head coach, set out to build a new culture in year No. 1. 

“We got to start over the process and believe in ourselves because we had it rough for the past three to four years,” York said. “We won our first game of the season for the first time in the past five years. We’ve been working extra hard on the fundamentals because fundamentals will lead to better things down the road.” 

There has been one challenge York said he’s encountered since becoming the head baseball coach. 

‘’Our biggest challenge as a team is getting all the players together because Covington Academy is a basketball powerhouse,” York said. “They’ve won two championships in the past three years. So basketball season is usually at the end of the season when baseball starts.” 

York has leaned on two players to help lead the charge and produce more success for the program — senior Kason Rooks and junior Gino Brown. 

Rooks says he’s going all-in to assist the Bulldogs in their turnaround quest. 

‘’We have a young team. We’ve been coaching the younger players to get better and progressing in the right direction,” Rooks said. “The biggest hurdle for the younger players has been attitude because, when they mess up, they get down on themselves. No matter the circumstance, keep playing and not get down on yourself.” 

Brown is one of the basketball players who was a late arrival to the baseball team. But, even Brown has noticed a change since he’s joined the Bulldogs under a new coach. 

“Everything has been different, in a positive way,” Brown said. “We have more of a winning mentality. Like last year, if we lost, we wouldn’t care. But this year, if we lose, everyone is mad and motivated to win the next game.” 

Players and coaches said they are motivated and excited to finish out the rest of the year. And, they aspire to make even more of a splash as the season progresses. 

Moving forward, Covington Academy wants to get better every day and have something they can build on for the future. 

‘’Our goals are to improve on last year and put ourselves in a better situation than they were last year,” Brown said. “And hopefully go to the playoffs and make a deep run.”