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Apr. 16—MOULTON — It was the last week in April and the sky was overcast over H.A. Alexander Park in Moulton.
The humidity and wind made for tricky baseball weather as Lawrence County hosted Class 5A's No. 1 Alexandria in the second round of the state playoffs last year.
After going scoreless in most of the second game of a doubleheader, Alexandria put two runs on the Red Devils in the bottom of the fifth inning. Those two runs would be all they needed as the Valley Cubs swept the series over Lawrence County in two games, moving on to win the 2024 Class 5A Baseball State Championship a few weeks later.
As heartbreaking as the loss was, though, there were plenty of positives to take away.
Despite losing eight seniors over the offseason, Lawrence County head coach Carson Jones knew he would return his main starting junior cast that had helped lead them to the second round for the first time since 2016.
"After getting put out in round two, I think they were hungry for it. I think they realized they were capable of more than they thought in the playoffs," he said. "That offseason, they wanted to get back to that and move on even further."
So those juniors got to work that summer, and by the time baseball season had started back up, there was no shortage of confidence in Moulton.
"Our mentality, the energy this year, has been nothing like we've ever played with before," Senior Ryder McGregory said. "It was us just knowing that we're a good team and that we can go out there and beat other good teams on any given day."
Under Jones, the Red Devils had never won in the opening month of February, combining the past two seasons to go 0-15. However, this February they opened up the season with four consecutive wins, going 6-2 in the opening month.
"We've made it a point to be a lot more aggressive on the bases this year. That's something we've really worked on over the past offseason," Jones said. "It just seems like, one through nine, if we need a hit, they get one. It doesn't matter who it is, somebody's coming through."
But they didn't stop there, Lawrence County kept their foot on the gas and had a 12-5 record going into their spring break trip down to Oxford.
"Spring break was so much fun in my opinion," senior Tripp Engle said. "It was March Madness. We were going into each other's hotel rooms, watching March Madness and playing poker. Just winning baseball games and having fun."
The Red Devils went 4-0 over spring break including a 3-2 win against Class 6A's No. 6 Homewood. The week after, they were ranked Class 5A's No. 10 team and swept No. 5 Russellville in their area series.
With a win over Priceville in the next week, they had made history, securing the Area 14 title and home field advantage in the first round of the state playoffs for the first time since 2009.
"Ever since we went down to Oxford, we've been playing with a chip on our shoulder, just knowing we could beat any team on any given day," senior Parker Frost said. "It just kind of showed us, we can do it."
The Red Devils have stayed hot since spring break, winning eight of their last 10 games. At 21-8 so far, Lawrence County has a chance to exceed 23 wins for the first time in 5A and since 2003, when the Red Devils went to the Elite Eight of the 4A state tournament.
" It's so important. We've all been around each other for so long and we don't want it to end in a bad way. We want to do everything we can to keep playing," senior Sutton Phillips said. "I feel like there's no personal motivation, we just want to win for each other."
Phillips said the seniors have all taken a step up and led this year, and that's allowed for more of a buy-in from the rest of the team.
"Leading by group instead of leading by one or two people has really helped us," he said. "There's just more buy-in, and in games, if one person can't get the job done, somebody steps up."
It shows in the stat sheet, too. Lawrence County has four seniors hitting above .300, with Caden Norwood and Frost hitting above .380, the latter of whom is hitting .478.
"Norwood, Frost and Engle started every day as freshmen for me. Then as sophomores, the entire group played," Jones said. "So I knew that if I could get them to buy into what I was teaching, then we would have a shot."
Those seniors bring chemistry, too. Regardless of the score, the Red Devils dugout has been loud this season, getting under opponents' skin and supporting teammates when needed.
" I'll yell from center field sometimes, and they all laugh about it because they (the other team) can hear me from all the way up to the plate. It kind of keeps the tone down a little bit and lets us not take it so seriously," Engle said. "It makes the other team mad, honestly."
With the first round coming up Friday against Fairview (15-15), the Red Devils said they're looking for revenge. Last year during football season, Fairview handed them a 28 — 25 loss that delayed their playoff berth. Almost all the seniors on the baseball team also played football and said they hope to give the Aggies a taste of their own medicine.
Now 10-3 against 5A opponents, Lawrence County will go into the playoffs ranked No. 8, but Engle said they can't let the moment get too big. He said they have to treat it the same as they've treated all the games this season.
"You've just got to go into it thinking it's just another game," Engle said. "You can't add pressure to yourself because baseball already has a lot of pressure."
Jones said he's proud of his team's accomplishments but said there's time to celebrate after the playoffs. He wants his players locked in on what's most important, a title.
"We may break a record but that's not the most important thing," he said. "We can look back after the season and say, 'OK, yeah, we had a really good year, we broke a couple of school records, and made history.' But right now, the sole focus is the playoffs and winning the state championship."
Continue reading...
The humidity and wind made for tricky baseball weather as Lawrence County hosted Class 5A's No. 1 Alexandria in the second round of the state playoffs last year.
After going scoreless in most of the second game of a doubleheader, Alexandria put two runs on the Red Devils in the bottom of the fifth inning. Those two runs would be all they needed as the Valley Cubs swept the series over Lawrence County in two games, moving on to win the 2024 Class 5A Baseball State Championship a few weeks later.
As heartbreaking as the loss was, though, there were plenty of positives to take away.
Despite losing eight seniors over the offseason, Lawrence County head coach Carson Jones knew he would return his main starting junior cast that had helped lead them to the second round for the first time since 2016.
"After getting put out in round two, I think they were hungry for it. I think they realized they were capable of more than they thought in the playoffs," he said. "That offseason, they wanted to get back to that and move on even further."
So those juniors got to work that summer, and by the time baseball season had started back up, there was no shortage of confidence in Moulton.
"Our mentality, the energy this year, has been nothing like we've ever played with before," Senior Ryder McGregory said. "It was us just knowing that we're a good team and that we can go out there and beat other good teams on any given day."
Under Jones, the Red Devils had never won in the opening month of February, combining the past two seasons to go 0-15. However, this February they opened up the season with four consecutive wins, going 6-2 in the opening month.
"We've made it a point to be a lot more aggressive on the bases this year. That's something we've really worked on over the past offseason," Jones said. "It just seems like, one through nine, if we need a hit, they get one. It doesn't matter who it is, somebody's coming through."
But they didn't stop there, Lawrence County kept their foot on the gas and had a 12-5 record going into their spring break trip down to Oxford.
"Spring break was so much fun in my opinion," senior Tripp Engle said. "It was March Madness. We were going into each other's hotel rooms, watching March Madness and playing poker. Just winning baseball games and having fun."
The Red Devils went 4-0 over spring break including a 3-2 win against Class 6A's No. 6 Homewood. The week after, they were ranked Class 5A's No. 10 team and swept No. 5 Russellville in their area series.
With a win over Priceville in the next week, they had made history, securing the Area 14 title and home field advantage in the first round of the state playoffs for the first time since 2009.
"Ever since we went down to Oxford, we've been playing with a chip on our shoulder, just knowing we could beat any team on any given day," senior Parker Frost said. "It just kind of showed us, we can do it."
The Red Devils have stayed hot since spring break, winning eight of their last 10 games. At 21-8 so far, Lawrence County has a chance to exceed 23 wins for the first time in 5A and since 2003, when the Red Devils went to the Elite Eight of the 4A state tournament.
" It's so important. We've all been around each other for so long and we don't want it to end in a bad way. We want to do everything we can to keep playing," senior Sutton Phillips said. "I feel like there's no personal motivation, we just want to win for each other."
Phillips said the seniors have all taken a step up and led this year, and that's allowed for more of a buy-in from the rest of the team.
"Leading by group instead of leading by one or two people has really helped us," he said. "There's just more buy-in, and in games, if one person can't get the job done, somebody steps up."
It shows in the stat sheet, too. Lawrence County has four seniors hitting above .300, with Caden Norwood and Frost hitting above .380, the latter of whom is hitting .478.
"Norwood, Frost and Engle started every day as freshmen for me. Then as sophomores, the entire group played," Jones said. "So I knew that if I could get them to buy into what I was teaching, then we would have a shot."
Those seniors bring chemistry, too. Regardless of the score, the Red Devils dugout has been loud this season, getting under opponents' skin and supporting teammates when needed.
" I'll yell from center field sometimes, and they all laugh about it because they (the other team) can hear me from all the way up to the plate. It kind of keeps the tone down a little bit and lets us not take it so seriously," Engle said. "It makes the other team mad, honestly."
With the first round coming up Friday against Fairview (15-15), the Red Devils said they're looking for revenge. Last year during football season, Fairview handed them a 28 — 25 loss that delayed their playoff berth. Almost all the seniors on the baseball team also played football and said they hope to give the Aggies a taste of their own medicine.
Now 10-3 against 5A opponents, Lawrence County will go into the playoffs ranked No. 8, but Engle said they can't let the moment get too big. He said they have to treat it the same as they've treated all the games this season.
"You've just got to go into it thinking it's just another game," Engle said. "You can't add pressure to yourself because baseball already has a lot of pressure."
Jones said he's proud of his team's accomplishments but said there's time to celebrate after the playoffs. He wants his players locked in on what's most important, a title.
"We may break a record but that's not the most important thing," he said. "We can look back after the season and say, 'OK, yeah, we had a really good year, we broke a couple of school records, and made history.' But right now, the sole focus is the playoffs and winning the state championship."
Continue reading...
