PATRIOTS HOPE TO DUPLICATE SUCCESS IN AHSAA

STORY BY JOSH BOUTWELL

The Pike Liberal Arts Patriots head into their first season in the Alabama High School Athletic Association as the most dominant baseball program in the past decade of the AISA.

The Patriots are coming off back-to-back state championships and state crowns in four of the last five seasons. Rush Hixon, who was the head coach for those past two seasons, is now coaching in the college ranks, while a legacy has taken the helm at PLAS.

Will Austin is in his first year as a head coach, but he is far from a stranger at Pike Lib. His grandfather, Butch Austin, helped turn the PLAS baseball program into a powerhouse in the 1990s. His legacy lives on in Butch Austin Field on the campus at PLAS and, now with his grandson, who returns to coach Pike Lib after spending 2017-2019 as an assistant coach at the school.

“Pike has always been special, obviously I know the people there and my grandfather coached there for numerous years,” Austin said after being hired by PLAS. “It’s special, the legacy that has been built at Pike and the numerous championships and great seasons they’ve had. My granddad and Coach Allen Ponder and Rush Hixon had so much success and built the program into what it is. It’s a great program and I’m excited to keep building upon that.”

All of that success, though, was built in the AISA. However, Austin is no stranger to the AHSAA having spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Ariton High School. Austin doesn’t feel there will be a big change in the new setting the Patriots are playing in.

“The biggest difference for the team is that we’re playing a lot more local teams,” Austin said. “In AISA last year, we had to travel a lot, traveling two or more hours for a single game. This year, the majority of our games are an hour or less away and that is definitely beneficial.”

Pike Lib will have the daunting task of filling the shoes of five All-State players from last season’s team, four of which are now playing college baseball. Among the returners from the 2022 AISA State Championship team, includes all-state player KC Bradford along with other veterans.

“We have a lot of guys that are going to contribute and have to play a lot of different spots,” Austin said. “Guys like KC Bradford and Levi DeBoer and Luke Barron are playing multiple positions. Davis Kilcrease played third base last year and we have some returning (pitchers) in Kade Brookins and Will Rice. We’re excited to see those guys progress and help us out this year.”

Bradford earned a .391 batting average last season with three home runs, 27 RBIs and 36 runs. Bradford also had a .941 fielding percentage on defense.

Pitching may be the biggest question mark on the Patriot roster as last year’s aces, Drew Nelson and Press Jefcoat, are now in college. Those two all-state performers leave behind some fairly large shoes to fill this season.

“Those guys have to step in there and compete and throw strikes,” Austin said of his pitching staff. “We have some younger guys that will have to step in and fill some innings for us. Press and Drew Nelson’s numbers speak for themselves, so replacing those guys won’t be easy. They were really great for this program and are doing great things in college now.”

Rice and Brookins are the only two returning pitchers that saw more than two innings on the mound last season. In 24 innings pitched, Rice earned 33 strikeouts and boasted a 3.782 ERA, while Brookins struck out 27 batters with a 1.780 ERA in 19 2/3 innings pitched.

“Early in the season, we have to continue to get better every day,” Austin emphasized. “We don’t want to be the same team tomorrow that we are today. We have to focus on getting better every day in all aspects: base running, fielding, hitting and pitching. I think we will be exactly where we need to be if we do that.

“The goal is to be the best we can be and do things the right way. Doing the little things right, that’s big, if we do those things winning takes care of itself.”

The success of the past is not lost on Austin and he intends to continue that moving forward.

“There has been a lot of success here in the past from Butch Austin coaching here and Allen Ponder and Rush Hixon,” he continued. “We’re continuing to do things the right way, we want to be a blue-collar team and that’s how we work and that’s how we’ll perform on game day, as well.”

Class: 2A

Area: 5

Field: Butch Austin

Field Colors: Red, Blue and White