Alabama's New Crop of Baseball Coaches

A new day has dawned for Alabama baseball and the future looks bright largely due to a new promising group of young talented baseball coaches. Hopefully gone forever are the days when the high school baseball team was just another stipend opportunity for a Junior High football coach, or was pushed off on the football coach with the least seniority. Today we are seeing baseball coaches coaching baseball. The results can be seen throughout the state in greater parity among teams than ever before.


The greatest example of this might be found in northern Alabama. In an area that often was dominated by a few schools in the past has now opened up. 6A and 5A baseball in the norther part of the state has not been this strong since I returned in 1995. For years 6A baseball has been largely powered by the Birmingham and Mobile schools. The 5A state championships have largely been settled early by the winner of the Cullman and Hartselle match up. Such is no longer the case. We see the effects now as the championship brackets are narrowing, but was it was also seen in the run up to this week's series. You would have been hard pressed to have found better series anywhere in the state than the ones between Grissom and Huntsville high schools three weeks ago to settle the area championship and last week's playoff series between Austin and Grissom. They were wars and exciting to watch.


This parity is the direct result of a foundation laid years ago by dedicated baseball coaches who sought to make baseball better in Alabama. They led the way to the success we see today. Men such as the late Sammy Dunn of Vestavia Hills High School, Hartselle High's William Booth and Lloyd Skoda now at Faith Academy in Mobile, but won several state championships while at Daphne High. These men pioneered baseball in the state and made way for the likes of Rick Davis at Hoover High, Mark Mincher at Huntsville High, Tommy Youngblood at Oak Mountain, Mike Good at Madison Academy, former Cullman coach Bryan Bowen, Tony Rasmus at Russell County and Jeff Mauldin at Pelham High to raise the bar even higher.

But it is the young crop of coaches that excite me the most. Their passion and ability show signs for potential greatness in Alabama baseball as never before seen. Their success and accomplishments can already been seen - Adam Moseley of Grissom High, Fairhope's Stuart Fuller, Austin High's Jake Miles, Todd Agee at Hillcrest High in Tuscaloosa, Chris Heaps at Hartselle High, Sparkman High School's Kellen Greer, Jeff Colegrove at Etowah High, Blake Bone at Southside Gadsden, Gadsden City's Todd Lamberth, Will Smith at Spain Park and Tuscaloosa County's Chad Shannon just to name a few. These young coaches have elevated the skill of high school baseball in the state and their instruction in the game have made their players more skilled than past players.

This can only help as our young players move forward while seeking to better their game and have hopes of living out their dreams of playing college and professionally one day. My hat's off to them for their dedication in making baseball better in the state.

*(photos courtesy of Randy Felder)