Season Preview | Baseball: MBHS after postseason berth in rugged Area 6
Having lost 13 seniors to graduation, Mountain Brook High’s Spartan baseball team has a lot of holes to fill in the starting nine. The coaching staff hopes competition for those starting spots will bring out the best in its players.
“There’s not a whole lot of experience outside of just a couple of guys,” head coach Lee Gann said. “There are a lot of empty spots out there and it’s going to be a challenge for a lot of guys.”
The Spartans concluded last season as the second-ranked team in Class 7A, falling to Thompson in a three-game first round playoff series.
Four of the players from last year’s team have moved on to the collegiate level, notably Andrew Autrey and Jack McPherson, who are now on the baseball team at Auburn.
Those departures leave Luke Hartman, Burt Bellande and Carter Byrd the opportunity to rise to the occasion and lead the team.
Hartman hit in the cleanup spot in the order last year, and the Spartans will count on the senior outfielder to produce in the middle of the lineup once again, as he led the team in what Gann calls quality at-bats.
“He’s a great leader for us,” Gann said. “He played every day for us last year. We’re looking for a great year out of him.”
Bellande brings a plethora of experience to the top end of the pitching rotation, as he enters his third season as a varsity pitcher.
“He ate up a lot of innings two years ago in the playoffs and had a really good year last year,” Gann said.
Byrd, who split time at first base and designated hitter last season, will be counted on as a run-producer as well.
“Those three are the three that we really have to lean on. Hopefully those guys will rally the guys around them and make them better,” said Gann.
Playing in Area 6 is no easy task, as Vestavia Hills, Hewitt-Trussville and Spain Park provide competition against the top teams in the state, with only two of the four programs able to qualify for the postseason.
“A lot of people thought we had the toughest area [last year],” Gann said. “I see it being very difficult again. You can have one of the best teams in the state and not get in the playoffs. That’s tough.”
A bad 10-day stretch in area play is enough to send a team home for the postseason, making it critical for a team to be playing its best baseball of the season when that time comes.
“The last three weeks, you really get down to seeing who’s going to get in the playoffs. That’s when you need to be playing your best baseball,” Gann said.
Mountain Brook opens up its season Feb. 15, when they will host Gardendale.