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All-State Baseball: Honors pile up for area players and coaches

david elwell, the decatur daily, ala.
·4 min read

Jun. 12—This past high school baseball season may have been the best ever with three area teams advancing to the state championship finals.

Now it's time for statewide accolades to come in with the announcement of the All-State teams from the Alabama Sports Writers Association.

Class 6A state champion Hartselle has six players honored. Class 2A runner-up Decatur Heritage has five, and Class 1A runner-up Lindsay Lane has four.

Hartselle pitcher Elliott Bray is the Class 6A Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year. Hartselle outfielder Coleman Mizell is the Class 6A Hitter of the Year.

Decatur Heritage catcher Nash Rippen is the Class 2A Hitter of the Year. Decatur Heritage's Steve Meek is the Class 2A Coach of the Year.

Lindsay Lane catcher Sam Hogue is the Class 1A Hitter of the Years. Lindsay Lane's Charles Morrison is the Class 1A Coach of the Year.

Here's a list of honors by classification:

Class 7A

Austin outfielder Caleb Beard (Sr.) received honorable mention.

Class 6A

Bray (Sr.) posted a 10-0 record with a 0.96 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 80 innings. He wasn't too shabby with the bat, hitting .421 with 51 hits and 29 RBIs.

Mizell (Jr.) led the Tigers with a .504 average with 69 hits, 10 home runs and 56 RBIs.

Teammates joining Bray and Mizell on the first team are pitcher William Turner (Sr.), infielder Jo Williamson (So.) with Brodie Morrow (Sr.) and Peyton Steele (So.) both as designated hitters.

Turner went 12-1 with two saves and a 1.43 ERA. He struck out 110 in 73 1/3 innings.

Williamson played second for the Tigers and hit .417 with 19 doubles, 47 runs scored and 36 RBIs. Morrow was the Tigers' designated hitter with a .326 average, 17 extra base hits and 36 RBIs. Steele played left and hit .333 with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs.

Athens' Sam Sandy is a second-team selection.

Class 5A

Decatur resident Alex Wade (Sr.), who played at Madison Academy, is the 5A Player of the Year. He hit .511 with 10 home runs and 60 RBIs for the Mustangs.

Class 4A

West Morgan's Skyler Hutto (Sr.) is a second-team selection as a utility player.

Class 3A

Elkmont infielder/pitcher Mykell Murrah (Jr.) is a first-team selection as a utility player. He hit .402 with eight home runs, 45 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. As a pitcher, he was 5-3 with a 2.02 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 41 1/3 innings.

Elkmont catcher Shane Boger (Sr.) and Danville catcher Gage Taylor (Jr.) were honorable mention selections.

Class 2A

Rippen hit .463 with 11 home runs, 11 doubles and 38 RBIs. His slugging percentage was 1.013. He made first-team as a catcher this season. Last year he was first-team as an outfielder.

Meek was named Coach of the Year in his final season coaching. In 10 seasons, Meek coached the Eagles to three state championship finals. Decatur Heritage won the Class 1A state championship in 2016.

Teammates joining Rippen on the All-State first-team are Cole O'Brien (Sr.) at pitcher, Bo Solley (Jr.) at infield and Bryant Sparkman (Fr.) at utility. Tyler Founds (Sr.) is a second-team selection at pitcher.

O'Brien was 6-3 with two saves while posting an ERA of 2.25. Solley hit .435 with five home runs and 25 RBIs. Sparkman hit .446 with 16 stolen bases. He was 4-2 pitching with a 1.21 ERA. Founds, a second-team selection last season, was 6-0 with two saves. His ERA was 0.21.

Falkville's Caden Burnett (Jr.) is second team as a utility player. He hit .555 with 25 stolen bases.

Hatton's Braden Stafford (Jr.) is an honorable mention selection at designated hitter.

Class 1A

Hogue was a repeat first-team selection. He hit .446 this season with 51 RBIs.

Morrison took Coach of the Year honors after getting the Lions to the state championship finals in just their second trip to the playoffs.

Lindsay Lane had three more players selected in pitcher Ray Anderson (Jr.), infielder Micah Perkins (Sr.) and outfielder Max Morrison (Jr.).

Anderson was 11-2 with 124 strikeouts in 78 1/3 innings. Perkins hit .430 with 30 RBIs and 33 stolen bases. Morrison hit .358 with 21 stolen bases.

Athens Bible had two second-team selections. They are catcher Connor Abernathy (Sr.) as a designated hitter and infielder Spencer Blake (Sr.). Abernathy hit .462 with 30 RBIs. Blake hit .474.

— david.elwell@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @DD_DavidElwell.