RHS baseball coach earns Coach of Year

By Brannon King / For the FCT

Many times with team success in sports, individual awards also find their way onto the trophy shelves of those involved. Such is the case with Russellville head baseball coach Chris Heaps.

The leader of the defending three-time state champion Golden Tigers recently got some well-deserved recognition for his leadership of one of the most successful baseball programs in recent years in the state of Alabama. Heaps was awarded the 2016-17 Alabama Coach of the Year for baseball by the National Federation of State High School Associations coaches association.

The Golden Tigers’ head coach was nominated by the Alabama High School Athletic Association.

“I’m very humbled for getting such an honor,” Heaps said. “Anytime somebody gets coach of the year, that means that you had some success. If you think success comes from what you’ve done individually, you’re highly mistaken. It’s what we have collectively done as a coaching staff, as a booster club, as a school administration. Everything is in place here to be successful.”

Anyone who spends time around the RHS baseball program knows that hard work is a key to success.  “We work hard, and the thing that I’m most proud of, I guess, is that the AHSAA thought highly enough of me to nominate me,” Heaps said. “A lot of coaches put in for it, and one gets nominated for each sport each year. I was just blessed to be in the right position at the right time, doing the right thing.”