Coaches at small schools often have little time to prepare for the change in sports seasons.
Things were no different this year for Brent Harris at Victory Christian. By the time the Eagles’ boys basketball season ended, baseball season was ready to start days later. As Harris transitioned from zone defenses to bunt defenses, one word entered his mind about the upcoming baseball season: Pitching.
After losing pitchers Tyler Jones and Landon Ellis and catcher Ben Williams, Harris knew the 2012 Eagles were going to be inexperienced on the mound and at plenty of other places on the field.
But that youth has served Harris and Victory Christian well.
At 5 p.m. today, Victory Christian (12-6) will showcase its wealth of talented underclassmen when it plays host to Lindsay Lane Christian Academy, of Athens, Ala., in a sub-state game to see which team will advance to the Alabama Christian Educators Association State Tournament. That four-team tournament will begin Friday in Montevallo, Ala. The winner of today’s game will play at noon Friday. The title game will be at noon Saturday.
“I was worried about pitching, mostly, and pitching and defense have really been our strengths,” Harris said. “We have been led by ninth-graders, and it has been more than what I expected.”
Freshman Anthony Sharp splits time at pitcher and catcher and has been a driving force behind the Eagles’ success. He also plays quarterback on the school’s football team.
“It is hard sometimes for me to remember he is only a ninth-grader because he has started since he was in seventh grade,” Harris said. “The boys look up to him. Even the older boys look up to him a little bit. It is hard to be in that situation, but he has stepped up to it. He has done a phenomenal job.”
Victory Christian has relied on a balanced roster that includes three seventh-graders, three eighth-graders, four ninth-graders, four sophomores, a junior (who is out for the season with an injury), and two seniors.
Harris, who also is the school’s boys basketball coach, said the addition of catcher Shane Bradford, a freshman transfer from Caledonia, has helped make up for the loss of Williams. He said he is blessed to have a skilled group of young players who have grown up playing baseball. He feels it is a cycle that schools sometime experience, and it is one he will relish as a small-school coach.
“They are definitely baseball players, and my fifth- and sixth-grade classes, I keep track of them, too, there are a lot of baseball players there,” Harris said.
Will Pitts, a pitcher/shortstop, and Kaleb Holliness, are the seniors. Pitts is one of the team leaders in hitting with Bradford. Taylor Frye is the team’s third pitcher and leadoff hitter.
Harris said the team has struggled at times to score at times this season, but he is confident the pitching and defense will continue to be strong to help extend the season into this weekend.
“We’re probably two to one in terms of strikeout to walk ratio,” Harris said. “Once our pitching fell into place, I knew we had a legitimate chance.
“It is always our goal to make it to the state championship. As the season went on, we made it our goal to win it all. I think we can.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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