Here’s why North DeSoto baseball coach Bo Odom will miss the Lutcher series

Jimmy Watson, Shreveport Times

As if the North DeSoto baseball team didn’t have a big enough challenge Thursday facing No. 1 Lutcher on the road in the LHSAA Non-Select Division I playoffs, they’ll be attempting to knock off the Bulldogs without veteran coach Bo Odom calling the shots.

Odom is Shreveport’s Highland Hospital receiving “excellent care,” according to his wife Melanie, after suffering a ruptured appendix just over a week ago. Odom initially thought he had a kidney stone last Wednesday and painfully coached his team through the three-game series with Rayne. The Griffins (24-8) lost the opener 3-0, but gave Odom some breathing room with 7-2 and 12-0 wins to advance to the quarterfinals versus Lutcher (27-7).

“Bo was really hurting, and I had to make him go to the hospital,” Melanie Odom said. “He really wanted to be there with the kids today."

The Griffins are slated to play at 6 p.m. Thursday, with game two set for 4 p.m. Friday. The “if necessary” game three will be at 7 p.m. Friday. Odom will watch the game on his laptop in his hospital room.

Assistant coach Jared Jennings will fill in for Odom and depend on players like Blayne McFerren, Cole Cory, Trysten Hopper, Reni Mason Luke Delafield, Bryan LaCour, Caleb Roles, Brayden Toothman, Cullen Conly, Kaleb Carter and Anthony Erdelac to fulfill their underdog role in a positive way.

“Coach Bo is our general and not having him fully with us has been a struggle,” Cory said. “But he’s the toughest guy we know and because of that, not only are we going out there to punch our ticket to Sulphur, but also to make coach Odom proud by being a reflection of everything he has taught us throughout the season.”

North DeSoto's Bo Odom talks about his Griffins outlasting Northwood 11-10 in a nearly five hour baseball game.
North DeSoto's Bo Odom talks about his Griffins outlasting Northwood 11-10 in a nearly five hour baseball game.

The Griffins have been overachieving to some degree this season after finishing tied for second place in District 1-4A with Evangel and Minden behind first place Northwood. All four of those teams are still competing in the 2024 playoffs.

Jimmy Watson covers Shreveport-Bossier area sports. Email him at jwatson@shreveporttimes.com and follow him on Twitter @JimmyWatson6.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Here’s why North DeSoto baseball coach Bo Odom will miss today’s game

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