Gauge Domingue (left) is one of many talents expected to return to Tift County baseball next year.

TIFTON, Ga. — Summer vacation has already ended for Kyle Kirk.

Only days after Tift County High graduated its class of 2018, the school’s head baseball and softball coach is presiding over two practice sessions a day: a morning one for softball and an afternoon one for baseball.

Practices are a bit limited at the moment. Rains from Subtropical Storm Alberto have turned both fields into a quagmire — not that the softball fielded needed much help in that department — but Kirk said his players have been in the weight room and in the batting cages. The fields will need to dry out soon, though, not just for his sake but for the Blue Devil Baseball Camp that starts next Monday at 8 a.m. Softball has a camp of its own the week after.

Advance signups for the camps have been fruitful. Kirk said he has about 30 guaranteed for softball and about 75 for baseball. He’s sure even more will walk up for each. Besides teaching fundamentals, he and his assistants will try to make sure each camper has fun on the field.

The fun parts of baseball and softball should bleed over to the regular seasons for each team.

Tift’s Lady Devils saw their win total rise last year, a campaign that saw them defeat Camden County for their first region win in nearly two years. Two graduated from that team and there are only three seniors this year, Ragen Lasseter, Lacoria Campbell and CeCe Garcia.

Besides that trio, Kirk said he is expecting productive seasons from many of his players, including Nini Battle, Morgen Ray, Abi Sumner, Madison Smith and Paige Hill. There are 25 total players on the team, a far cry from just a few years ago, when the Lady Devils had all of 12 players and were not able to field a junior varsity squad.

“One thing we have now is competition at every position,” he said.

About half of his softball roster are playing for travel teams this summer and more than that from baseball. Kirk said he worked with them during the week, to “make sure we’re getting the work in,” though he’s cautious about overwork.

Baseball saw the Blue Devils miss the state playoffs by virtue of Camden County’s win in the last game of the season over Lowndes. Had that not happened, Tift would have won the tiebreaker and advanced to the tournament. The team’s overall record was 10-20.

“We knew it was coming,” said Kirk about the team’s struggles. There is great news about the future, though. The roster was a young one and while the Devils will have to fill five slots, he believes he has the players to do it.

Among the young Devils returning for 2019 are Owen Manning, Ben Brock, Reese Watson, Trey Barfield, Joseph Pittman, Gauge Domingue and Mason Avant.