Area baseball seasons shrug off old man winter and get cranked up
by Bart Moss for the FCT
Belgreen Bulldogs (1A)
Patrick Odom, fresh off coaching two varsity basketball teams, readies the Belgreen baseball program for the 2015 season. Odom, in his second season at Belgreen, was an assistant baseball coach at Shoals Christian for 14 years.
The Bulldogs have a young roster especially at the pitching position. Odom says that will be a point of emphasis this year.
“We still have a very young roster,” said Odom. “They are improving every day and learning how to compete. All of our pitching is young and that will pose some challenges. We just have to fight through it and compete. We have a good group of kids who work hard every day.”
The Bulldogs return junior Nathaniel Rae. They also return several freshmen in Cade Parrish, Payton Scott, Seth Taylor and Jake Taylor.
Phil Campbell (2A)
Jonathan Raper enters his second season as the Phil Campbell Bobcats baseball coach with a wealth of young talent. The Bobcats, already off to a hot start this season, may encounter some bumps in the road this year but are expected to get stronger as the season progresses.
“I am really excited to watch this team grow,” said Raper. “We have a lot a good young players who have been playing baseball together for a long time. They love the game and we feel like we can really do some things this year if the ball bounces our way.”
On the mound the Bobcats return senior pitcher/centerfielder Skylar Tackett, junior pitcher/shortstop Blake Jones, and freshman pitcher/second baseman Peyton Thomas. In the field the Bobcats return freshman catcher Joe Hardy, sophomore third baseman Gage Roberson, sophomore left fielder Colby Baker, senior right fielder Luke Baker, sophomore pitcher/outfielder Nick Swinney, sophomore pitcher/second baseman Jacob Anthony.
The Bobcats also have a couple of newcomers expected to help this season in sophomore pitcher/first baseman Hayden Copeland and junior second baseman/outfielder Austin Odom.
Red Bay (2A)
Richard Maggerise enters his second season as the Red Bay Tigers baseball coach. Last year the Tigers finished the season 13-20 but return a lot of talented young players.
“We want to be very competitive,” said Maggerise. “We believe we are in a good area that enables us to compete. We have eight returning starters on a team that showed glimpses of potential. We are still fairly young but if we continue to work and eliminate mental errors I believe we can compete with anyone.”
The Tigers return junior slugger Troy Borden. Borden batted .465 and had nine home runs and 47 RBIs last season. He will be expected to anchor the lineup. Infielder Nick Thorn batted .394 with 24 RBIs. Jade Pounds batted .370 with 23 RBIs. Other key returning players for Red Bay are Landen Burgett, Kaleb Burroughs, Kolby Bragwell, Huston McKinney, and Josh Wilson.
Red Bay will have a couple of key newcomers in Daniel Wooten and Tate Ozbirn.
Russellville Golden Tigers (5A)
Chris Heaps begins his third year at the helm of the Russellville Golden Tiger baseball program with high expectations. Heaps, who is in his 19th season as a head baseball coach, has amassed a 72-54 record overall and a 41-38 record at Russellville.
His team went 16-24 last season but lost 13 games by just one or two runs. That gives Heaps optimism for this year’s squad.
“We expect to win our area,” said Heaps, who will be competing with Lawrence County, West Point and Fairview for the title. “We want to win 20 plus games, go deep into the playoffs and represent the North in the 5A state playoffs.”
Russellville returns several starters including one player who has already inked a scholarship to play at Shelton State. That player is pitcher/outfielder/designated hitter Jacob Green. The Golden Tigers also return Sophomore Cody Greenhill; Juniors Reed Smith, Austin Bohannon, Landon Oliver, Bailey Thompson, and Austin Kitterman who returns from an ATV accident during the Fall. Russellville also has two sophomores returning in Colin Garrison and Payton Nichols.
The Golden Tiger have a couple of key newcomers in Judd Ward who missed all of last due to a football injury and Skylar Stephens a transfer from the Huntsville area.
Tharptown Wildcats
Griffin Harris begins his second season at the head coach of the Tharptown Wildcats. Harris has accumulated a record of 20-17 in his two seasons. This year he will compete in a new area at the 2A level for the first time. They are in the area with Hatton, Phil Campbell, and Sulligent.
The biggest challenge for Harris this year will be to replace the bulk of a strong pitching staff that graduated last year and do it at a tougher level of play.
“Pitching and defense are what win games,” said Harris. “We can throw in the bullpen everyday but until we get on the mound in a real game you don’t know what you are going to get. Brady Petree, Heath Hatton and Max Nolen appear to be the core of our staff going into the season. I’m anxious to get the season started and see how they progress.”
The Wildcats have reached the playoffs for the past three season but Harris acknowledges it may be tougher at the 2A level.
“We have a challenge in front of us,” said Harris. “We are in an area with teams that have a lot of baseball tradition. We have to embrace and build our own history.”
Vina Red Devils
Greg Hamilton begins his 19th season as the head coach of the Vina Red Devils with a young team and the challenges that go with being from a small school. Hamilton, who has a career record of 218-166, relishes that challenge.
“We are very young but our kids have worked very hard and hard work pays off,” said Hamilton. “We are perceived as the underdogs because of our low enrollment but we embrace that roll.”
Vina has seven returning starters and can pull from that experience to compete this year. The Red Devils return Tyler Renfrow, Justin Gravitt, Jon Sullivan, Cody Wilkinson, Hayden Murray, Austin Childers, and Brandon Cole.
