A little more than a week after winning the Class 5 state championship with the Jefferson City Jays, Grant Wood returned to Vivion Field.
His time playing there with the Jays is over, but the Renegades certainly don't mind letting the state's Gatorade Player of the Year get some more innings on the homefield dirt.
"He fit right in," Renegades manager Mike DeMilia said. "He's as good a anybody we have. We expect he'll do great things for us."
The Murray State-bound shortstop made his Renegades debut Monday night against the Nevada Griffons.
"It feels good to be on my home field again," Wood said. "I like that instead of playing somewhere else."
Although, he did have a different perspective from the infield Monday, starting at second base.
"Just a little different angle, still ground balls and everything," Wood said. "I thought I did pretty good over there for my first time."
Wood had to wait until the third inning to see a ball come his way, fielding a ground ball to complete a 1-2-3 frame. He also fielded ground balls cleanly in the fifth and sixth innings. Nevada's Kainalu Pitoy reached base in the eighth on a sharp grounder to Wood, who dove to keep the ball from reaching the outfield.
"You can definitely tell it's not high school anymore," Wood said. "All the ground balls are always hard right at you. It's just a faster game."
Wood reached base once in his debut with a leadoff walk in the fifth. He tapped a grounder back to the pitcher for a 1-6-3 double play in the second, grounded out to third in the seventh and flew out to right field in the ninth to finish 0-for-3 from the No. 7 spot in the lineup.
"I squared up some balls, hit it right at them," Wood said. "Not too bad."
Wood is coming off a senior season with the Jays in which he hit better than .500, broke the school record with 17 doubles and drove in 36 runs. But he's still concentrating on that part of his game this summer.
Wood's first two at-bats came against Ethan Vanderpool from Division II Pittsburg State. Then he faced a pair of Division I arms - Thomas Swafford and David Ruot - of Abilene Christian.
"It wasn't too much of a difference," Wood said of going up against college players. "You can definitely tell it's a little bit faster, better breaking balls, just a little bit of an adjustment."
The Renegades were on a seven-game road trip after Wood and the Jays wrapped up a 31-2 season with a state title. Wood waited until the team's next home game to join the club. It was a much welcomed rest.
"I was like exhausted, just depleted from all energy," Wood said.
So having more than a week off from playing allowed DeMilia to drop Wood into the starting lineup right away.
"It was kind of the plan," DeMilia said. "Just throw him in there and see how he does. He'll sit some but he'll get a lot of at-bats."
It'll be valuable time on the diamond before playing Division I ball in the spring.
"It really is perfect timing," Wood said of the Renegades having their first season after his senior year. "It gets me ready for my college career. I'm just wanting to adapt to the college level of playing. That way I have a head start."