Teams excited to hit field again after shortened 2020 season
High school baseball season ended the same way for everyone last season: in disappointment. With COVID-19 shuttering the season just a month in, there is a renewed sense of excitement, gratitude and anticipation for the 2021 season.
Many teams are in the same boat in numerous ways, including a lack of experience given the brevity of last season. But the schools along the U.S. 280 corridor have high expectations for this spring. Briarwood and Chelsea play inarguably the toughest Class 6A area, while Oak Mountain and Spain Park play in competitive 7A areas as well.
HORNETS BOAST STANDOUT PITCHING STAFF
Chelsea was in the Class 6A championship series just two years ago and appears to have a team capable of making a similar run this season if everything falls into place. On paper, the Hornets feature one of the top pitching staffs around.
Connor Ball, a left-handed senior committed to the University of Alabama, has been one of the team’s primary arms each of the last two years and is set to anchor the rotation this spring. Brock Hill is one of two future South Alabama pitchers on the roster and returns after being injured last spring.
Parker Szush is another senior pitcher expected to log significant innings this spring, along with junior South Alabama commit Reid Gongwer, who was 4-0 with an earned run average below 1.00 last season.
Chelsea has eight seniors this year. Jackson Webster is a Birmingham-Southern commit who plays first base and will provide pop in the middle of the lineup after leading the Hornets in hitting last year. Adam Reaves will be a third-year starter in the middle infield who hits at the top of the order. Cole Kennedy is a senior outfielder and a captain along with Webster.
A couple of infield spots are up for grabs, and the Hornets have to replace Jacob Boyle at catcher.
“We’re trying to figure out some areas on the field,” Chelsea head coach Michael Stallings said.
Stallings likes what he has in his junior class, from which several will be contributing to the Hornets this season.
Between Mountain Brook, Homewood and Briarwood, the Hornets will have their work cut out for them just to advance to the playoffs, much less make a postseason push.
“You’ve just got to prepare your guys for what’s in front of them,” Stallings said. “Our schedule will do that. We have a very tough schedule. The games we play prior to area play are going to help us prepare for those games.”
LIONS NOT INTIMIDATED BY JUMP IN CLASS
The leap from Class 5A to 6A might intimidate some programs or hinder their success, but Briarwood’s baseball team seems equipped to make that transition. Steve Renfroe’s Lions are experienced and on paper, have the team to compete with anyone.
“This will be the oldest team we’ve ever had,” Renfroe said. “I’m excited about them, I like them a lot. They’re a fun bunch to work with.”
That’s not to say Briarwood has everything figured out at the outset of the season. The Lions lost a few pitchers from a deep staff last spring and will need to find some arms to complement ace Carson McKinney, a standout player headed to the University of Texas.
Up the middle, the Lions will be strong. With Tyler Waugh — the Starnes Media All-South Metro Player of the Year in football — behind the plate, McKinney anchoring the staff and Wesley Helms and Parker Hutson in the middle infield, Briarwood feels good about that starting point.
“We’ve just got to fill in around them,” Renfroe said.
Waugh has signed to play baseball at UAB, Helms to Auburn and Hutson to Birmingham-Southern. Jonah Carroll will also be playing college baseball at Meridian Community College.
Eli Steadman and Cal Higdon are a few others who have been around the Briarwood program for some time and will contribute in a major way.
Briarwood competes with Chelsea, Homewood and Mountain Brook now in that loaded Area 9.
“It’s probably as good as any in the state,” Renfroe said. “It’ll be fun.”
EAGLES EMBRACING WIDE OPEN PRESEASON
Oak Mountain has a strong senior group, but that does not mean as much as it has in years past, since last season was abbreviated. As juniors, many of those players were beginning to put the pieces together before the pandemic halted that progress.
Oak Mountain was 9-4 and winners of five of its last six at the conclusion of play.
“There’s an excitement and energy to pickup where we left off, obviously with some new pieces,” Oak Mountain head coach Derek Irons said. “We were getting the taste of some new success, and we’re eager to get back to that place.”
Connor Adams was a force on the mound for the Eagles last year and returns to be one of the top arms again. Stephen Moraski and Stone Evers pitch and play in the outfield and are back from last year’s squad. Davis Gillespie is now a junior but contributed in a major way last year and should do so again.
Other than that, spots are up for grabs.
“This preseason is the most wide open of probably any I’ve ever been a part of, because we really don’t know,” Irons said.
Irons is excited to see the contributions of a mix of sophomores, juniors and seniors all pulling in the same direction for his team this spring.
“We want to be a team every day that has a good approach, good work ethic and good process, and that executes a lot,” he said.
Oak Mountain will be with Hoover, Thompson and Tuscaloosa County in Class 7A, Area 5.
“We’re going to be good, but so is everybody else,” Irons said. “It’s a challenge, but it’s also pretty fun.”
JAGS RELOADING IN 2021
Not that last season being cut short benefited anybody, but it certainly did nothing to help the Spain Park program. The Jags had a wealth of experience, had compiled a 12-4 record and were playing solid baseball before the season was shuttered.
But the page has been turned to 2021 and the Jags find themselves in a different situation this spring.
“Not only are we having to replace a lot of experience, but a lot of good players as well — six of them signed [to play in college],” Spain Park head coach Will Smith said. “We’re going to be very inexperienced.”
Spain Park’s top returner on the pitching staff is Eli Copenhaver, a South Alabama signee. Trent Thompson returns at catcher and Conner Eberhart makes the move from second base to shortstop. Thompson will head to Snead State and Eberhart has signed with Transylvania University.
“The rest of it is really wide open,” Smith said.
Harrison Holcomb, Jake Majors and Wes Sanders are a few pitchers Smith knows the Jags will rely on this year as well.
Josh Harrington is a player likely to shore up Spain Park’s middle infield along with Eberhart. Brooks Ballintine is expected to take hold of a spot in the outfield, but there is still plenty for the Jags to figure out.
Spain Park competes in the always tough Class 7A, Area 6. Hewitt-Trussville is one of the early favorites in 7A, while Vestavia Hills returns plenty of experience. Gadsden City is new to the area this year as well.