Jerry Boatner wasn’t quite sure what to expect in his final year at West Lauderdale with his two most experienced pitchers out with injuries.

Senior Chance Denson, an East Mississippi Community College signee, missed the entire season as a pitcher for West Lauderdale due to Tommy John Surgery, and fellow senior Hunter Eldridge only had a small handful of appearances on the mound thanks to an injury.

Still, behind the arms of juniors Kameron Partridge and Ben Ethridge, the Knights still managed a 25-5 record and a berth in the third round of the Class 4A playoffs in Boatner’s final year as head baseball coach. Because of his team’s success, Boatner was named the Premier Preps 2018 Baseball Coach of the Year.

“It’s a great honor,” Boatner said. “It’s good publicity for all of us.”

West Lauderdale was eliminated by Vancleave in round three, but reflecting on the season as a whole, Boatner said he was proud of what his team was able to accomplish without Denson and Eldridge as its Nos. 1 and 2 starters.

“If you told me we’d be 25-5 (without them), I’d have said you were crazy,” Boatner said. “I’m really proud of the way we played. We had one or two bad innings (against Vancleave), but I can’t complain. Getting to the third round after having lost so many starters off last year’s team, I was really proud of the boys.”

A lot of the credit, Boatner said, goes to Partridge and Ethridge for filling in as the team’s top two pitchers. Partridge finished the season with a 0.45 earned-run average, while Ethridge had a 1.07 ERA.

“Kameron exceeded our expectations,” Boatner said. “We had no idea he would be this good. I was counting on Ben Ethridge all along, but Partridge may be the best pitcher we’ve ever had to throw less than 85 miles an hour. Ben pitched a lot as a ninth grader, so we weren’t as surprised by him as Kameron. The main thing we had going for us was, our pitchers threw strikes.”

While retirement hasn’t quite set in, Boatner has spent the immediate aftermath of the season beginning to move he and his wife, Linda’s, belongings to their new home just outside of Atlanta. He plans to work as a volunteer coach in the area, but his biggest commitment will be to his family.

“We’re 30 minutes from the University of Georgia, an hour and a half from Clemson and an hour and a half from Auburn,” Boatner said. “We’re just in a good place to see a lot of sports, go visit our grandkids and travel. That’s why I don’t want to be tied down — if they’re not paying me, they can’t tell me exactly what to do.”

After 45 years at West Lauderdale, Boatner said he knows exactly how he hopes to be remembered.

“As a guy who knew what he wanted and worked extremely hard and tried to do things right and tried to make a difference in baseball in the state of Mississippi,” Boatner said.