Derrick DeWald didn’t sugarcoat things while evaluating his Vicksburg Gators’ performance at last weekend’s Clinton jamboree.

“We didn’t look good,” Vicksburg’s coach said before rattling off a laundry list of hitting and fielding errors the Gators made. “But we have nowhere to go but up. Once we make some minor adjustments, we have a chance to be pretty good.”

The Gators get a chance for redemption when they open the season today with a pair of games at Germantown. They’ll play St. Andrew’s at noon and Germantown at 2:30. They’re the first meaningful games of DeWald’s tenure — he replaced Ryan Grey last summer — and for the team since it was lost to Saltillo in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs last May. A lot has changed since then, and not just at the top.

The Gators’ top three hitters last season — John Plummer, Jekori Reed and Michael Rohrer — all graduated. Outfielder Marc Grace is the only returning full-time starter who hit better than .300 last season, and DeWald said it showed in the preseason jamboree.

Vicksburg’s hitters, he said, let too many fastballs go by and swung at too many curveballs. Changing that approach is essential if they’re to have any success at the plate.

“From a hitting standpoint, you have to know what you can and can’t hit, and what to look for early in the count,” DeWald said. “We watched too many fastballs early in the count and got behind in the count. If we can change our approach early and put the count in our favor, we’ll be OK.”

While the Gators’ hitting needs some work, it does have the core of a solid pitching staff in place.

Tyler Smith, Sean East and Will Martin, who combined to throw 82 2/3 innings last season, are all back for another go-round. All have good enough stuff to be effective, DeWald said, but will need some help from their fielders — which they didn’t get in the jamboree.

“We don’t have any guys that are going to overpower anybody. They’re all pitch-to-contact guys. We have to play defense behind them,” DeWald said. “It’s going to be on our defense to make routine plays. We have three or four guys that can eat some innings, but it’s all going to come back to our defense.”

Whatever is ailing the Gators, there’s time and opportunity to sort out. Beginning with today’s doubleheader, they’re schedule to play eight games in the first 12 days of the season. The division opener is March 17 at home against Pearl.

It’s a tough stretch, but also a gauntlet that DeWald feels will allow everyone to figure out what problems need solving.

“There’s not going to be any gimmes,” he said. “If we can stack up, I know we’re going to be OK. If we can’t, it’s going to be a long year.”