The Chattanooga Lookouts blanked Chattanooga State 7-0 Tuesday night in the annual preseason exhibition game at AT&T Field.
It was the Lookouts’ first game at AT&T since last September, when they sealed a share of the Southern League championship with a 3-2 win over the Montgomery Biscuits. The Lookouts trailed 2-1 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, when LaMonte Wade reached on an infield single and Jonathan Rodriguez followed with a walkoff home run off the left-field scoreboard.
“That was a great night,” Wade said Tuesday afternoon, as he glanced toward left field with a smile. “In spring training, when we got our rings, they played the video of J-Rod hitting the home run off the board. It was fun reliving it again, and it really does feel like last night when it happened.”
Chattanooga had to share the 2017 league championship with Pensacola due to the threat of Hurricane Irma canceling the best-of-five series, but that hardly detracted from a Lookouts team that rolled to a 91-49 record. The 91 victories set a record for the Lookouts during their time in the Southern League.
“I still get the chills whenever I think about that night,” T.J. White said. “It’s different being back, but we’re hoping to duplicate it this year and get that same feeling.”
More than half of Chattanooga’s 25-man opening roster played for the Lookouts last season, including the quartet of Stephen Gonsalves, Zack Littell, Randy LeBlanc and Kohl Stewart, who got the win against Chattanooga State, in the rotation. There also are four relievers returning: Sam Clay, Ryan Eades, Tyler Jay and Todd Van Steensel.
White is back in the infield along with Nick Gordon and Ryan Walker, while Wade returns in the outfield along with Edgar Corcino and Tanner English.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good mix, and I think we may have gotten even better,” Wade said. “I don’t know how we could, but I think we’ve gotten better. I think it’s going to be a good, fun season.
“The guys in that locker room are really excited. A lot of us know the ropes and what to expect, and our younger guys are going to jell right in.”
Topping last season’s accomplishments would require a lot, and first-year Lookouts manager Tommy Watkins isn’t about to look beyond the opening series with visiting Birmingham that starts Thursday night at 6:15. Watkins was the hitting coach for the 2016 Lookouts, who were 75-65 overall but missed out on the playoffs.
Asked Tuesday about this season’s sky-high expectations, Watkins replied, “Are they really? I didn’t know that,” before starting to smile.
“I try not to look at that,” he said. “Expectations are high, because they did win 91 games last year, but all you can do is come to work and keep getting better. Last year is over, and this is a new year.”
A new year with its new set of challenges.
“There is a little pressure given what we did last year, but we’re still going to go out and have fun,” White said. “Whatever happens is going to happen. We’re just here to play the game. We’ve got a lot of good players. It’s going to be a fun year.
“It’s going to be tough on Tommy to make a lineup, I know that. “
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.