DEMOPOLIS &8212; With baseball season only weeks away from its official start on Feb. 18, head baseball coach Ben Ramer got his feet wet this week with his team of both new and returning players.

Coming from a 4A program at Andalusia High School, Ramer said he is ready to get started and continue the progress that has already begun with Demopolis High School&8217;s baseball program.

Ramer said he would describe his rapport with the players as a &8220;relationship in progress.&8221; He said he plans to work with line-ups and eventually take the 38 players practicing together now and turn them into two separate teams, junior varsity and varsity.

Ramer said the team has already done some off-season weight training, which is something that is much more emphasized in today&8217;s world of athletics.

He said that could be both a blessing and curse. On the one hand, more weight training produces larger and more athletically fit athletes. On the other hand, Ramer said, it could also hinder the amount of dedication to the game itself.

As far as teams to look for over the course of the season, Ramer said he has yet to size up the competition, being that his previous experience is with out-of-area teams.

One of the first events of the season will be sponsoring a baseball camp this weekend. Ramer said there are already 150 children between the ages of 5 and 12 signed up to participate. He expects that number will grow to at least 200.