Not every trend in Major League Baseball trickles all the way down to the high school level, but, with more than half of the 2017 prep season already in the books, there appears to be at least one common thread between the two.
Pitchers are missing bats more than ever, piling up strikeouts at a prolific rate. Whether that’s due to an all-or-nothing approach by hitters willing to sacrifice contact for the chance to do more damage when they do connect, or to a proliferation of hard-throwing arms with quality stuff on the mound, or to any number of contributing factors in between, is hard to say.
Whatever the cause, more and more plate appearances these days are ending in strike three. That certainly seems to be the case in Franklin County, where coaches have a wide range of theories as to the driving force behind all these whiffs.
“I don’t really know what it is,” said Chris Heaps, now in his fifth season as Russellville’s head coach. “It may be the lack of continuity from not being able to keep your schedule rolling. That was tough for us early. Right now, we’re 12-6. We’re usually thirty games in by now. That hurts a little bit, not being able to get in a groove and see it every day.”
Phil Campbell coach Jonathan Raper subscribes to the idea that practice, in essence, makes perfect.
“I think people are putting more of an emphasis on pitching and defense and working with it more,” said Raper, who has been the Bobcats’ head coach since 2013. “Another thing is, we start throwing, in all reality, about two weeks after football season. Then in January you start throwing every day. I just think pitchers are ahead of hitters a little bit. By the end of the season, the hitters start to catch up.
“I hope ours do, anyway.”
Catching up is more of a challenge for hitters these days, with radar gun readings on the rise seemingly everywhere. That includes Phil Campbell, where Raper’s deep pitching staff is led by hard-throwing right-handers Peyton Thomas and Nick Swinney.
“Peyton is probably 84, 85 [miles per hour], but we’ve had a couple scouts here lately who said he was throwing harder,” Raper said. “And Nick’s right there about the same. I don’t know that I’ve ever had two guys together like Peyton and Nick who could strike people out on a given day like they can.
“The [Colton] Vickery kid a couple of years ago threw hard, but these are the two hardest throwers we’ve had together since I’ve been at Phil Campbell.”
Throwing it by hitters is certainly tried and true, but there’s more than one way to skin a cat—or miss a bat. Pinpoint location and quality spin can cause just as much trouble as a blistering fastball.
“I think [pitchers] are just dominating on the mound,” said Jake Ward, Vina’s first-year head coach. “Not really so much with velocity, but just being able to locate their pitches. I think it’s being able to have that secondary pitch and throw that for a strike.”
If it seems like more and more pitchers these days are able to combine plus velocity with good command and quality secondary stuff…well, they probably are.
“The caliber of pitching throughout the state has gotten better,” said Heaps, who spent 15 seasons as an assistant coach at Hartselle and one as the head coach at Central Phenix-City before arriving at Russellville in 2013. “That’s got something to do with it. We played a Memphis signee and a UAB signee the first day [in games against Russell County and Oxford]. Westbrook had a guy throwing pretty hard. We faced an Auburn signee at Hartselle. We’ve faced Helena twice, and they’ve got good pitching. Madison Academy had two really good pitchers.
“We haven’t faced any slouches, that’s for sure.”
There aren’t many slouches to be found in Franklin County, either. Just take last week’s Class 2A, Area 14 series between Phil Campbell and rival Red Bay as an example.
Thomas went seven innings for the Bobcats in last Tuesday’s game one, striking out 13 and walking none in a 3-2 walk-off win. Two days later, Red Bay senior lefty Chandler Allen—a Blue Mountain College signee—matched Thomas with 13 strikeouts in a complete game, helping the Tigers even the series with a 10-3 win. Finally, in the decisive game three, Swinney overcame a rocky start to go the distance and strike out 10 batters in a 7-4 victory by Phil Campbell.
Through Sunday, Thomas (3-0 with a 1.56 ERA)) had registered double-digit Ks in three of his four starts, striking out 39 batters in 27.1 innings. Swinney (3-1, 3.67) was close behind with 28 strikeouts—and just eight walks—in 21.1 innings.
“Peyton is a fastball-curveball guy,” Raper said. “He throws a changeup some, but he’s mostly fastball-breaking ball. He’ll run a changeup in there every once in a while just to keep them off-balance. He probably threw his changeup the least he’s thrown it all year the other day against Red Bay. He threw his breaking ball a lot, and that’s a strikeout pitch for him. He’s got a good breaking ball. He can throw it for a strike when he wants to, and he can put it in the dirt when he wants to. He has so much control over it.
“Nick’s got a curve, but the other night at Red Bay he didn’t throw it a whole lot. His changeup, most of the time, is one of his better pitches. With him, it’s pretty much just whatever’s working that day.”
Just about everything has been working this season for Vina senior right-hander James Barnes, whose first three starts of the season produced a no-hitter against Hubbertville, a one-hit shutout of Lynn and a five-inning perfect game in a win over Tharptown. Through Sunday, Barnes (4-1 with a 1.75 ERA) had struck out a whopping 50 batters in 28 innings, while giving up a total of just 10 hits. Fellow seniors Tyler Renfrow (44 Ks and only eight walks in 26 innings) and lefty Justin Gravitt (18 strikeouts in 9.1 innings, with just one earned run and four hits allowed) have also posted astronomical strikeout rates, helping the Red Devils get off to a 9-4 start.
Of course, there’s something to be said for efficiency, particularly in light of the new pitch-count limitations put into effect this season by the AHSAA. A weak groundball on the second pitch of an at bat can be even more effective than a five-pitch sequence that ends in a K, but Ward claims to have no preference.
“I like to get them out. It doesn’t matter how,” he said. “I don’t think our guys are keeping up with [how many strikeouts they have]. They’re just out there attacking the zone, trying to give us a chance to win the game.”
Nobody attacks the zone quite like Russellville senior ace Cody Greenhill, an Auburn signee. The 6’4, 210-pound right-hander unleashes his 90-mile-an-hour fastball with laser-like command, resulting in a strikeout-to-walk ratio (55 Ks and just five free passes in 36 innings through Sunday) that reads like a misprint. Greenhill (4-2, 1.56 ERA) entered Monday having thrown 389 of his 549 pitches this season for strikes—a stellar rate of 71 percent.
Teammate Skylar Holland fills up the zone as well, posting a strike rate of 66 percent through Sunday. He doesn’t throw as hard as Greenhill or fellow senior Chad Wray (34 Ks in 29.1 innings, with a 1.69 ERA and two complete game shutouts), but Holland (2-1 with four saves, a 0.64 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 22 innings) locates well and keeps hitters guessing with an excellent curveball that makes his 83-mile-an-hour fastball play up a notch or two.
“With Skylar, it’s his ability to throw multiple pitches for strikes,” said Heaps, whose team, ranked No. 3 in Class 5A, was set to open play at the Gulf Coast Classic on Monday. “His curveball is the big thing for him. Hitting coaches are teaching their guys to get on a plane with the ball, and that 12-to-6 breaking ball makes that harder to do. Then, if you can elevate your fastball, guys can’t catch up with that. If you can pitch in with the fastball or elevate it, and you throw a good breaking ball, you’re gonna get those strikeouts.
“With Cody, the big thing is you can miss your spot when you’ve got really good velo. If you don’t have that velo, those guys better hit their spots or they’re gonna be in trouble.”
Hitters have more often than not been the ones in trouble this season against Red Bay’s Allen, who mixes in a curve, a change and even the occasional knuckleball with a fastball that sits in the low-80s from the left side. Through Sunday, Allen (5-2, 1.70 ERA) was leading all Franklin County pitchers with 56 strikeouts in 33.1 innings and had allowed only 15 hits.
“Chandler has tremendous arm speed, and he can locate,” Red Bay coach Richard Maggerise said back in December, when Allen signed with Blue Mountain. “For a high school pitcher, he’s got above-average location.”
Allen fronts a talented Tiger staff that also features fellow senior Landen Burgett and sophomore Kolby Bragwell. Burgett, a 6’3, 210-pound lefty, has been working his way back from a preseason injury; despite not yet operating at peak velocity, he still had struck out 24 batters in 20 innings through Sunday while allowing just seven earned runs and eight hits. Bragwell, a right-hander, had rung up 20 Ks in 15 innings, including 12 in six shutout innings at Colbert County earlier this month.
“From our perspective, it’s about the hard work these guys put in and the way they dedicated themselves to the offseason throwing program,” Maggerise said Monday morning from Gulf Shores, where the Tigers were preparing to face Winfield in the Gulf Coast Classic. “But I will say this. I was talking with Coach Raper the other day before the game, and this year it seems like there’s an abundance of pitchers everywhere, whereas last year it seemed like there were hitters everywhere. I guess it goes in cycles. But in Franklin County right now, there are seven or eight guys that are gonna have the opportunity to pitch in college. I can’t remember the last time that happened.
“For the first time in a while, Franklin County baseball programs are pretty dang good. I think it speaks volumes about these other coaches in the county and the work the kids are putting in. Baseball in Franklin County is really starting to hit its stride, and I think Russellville’s success the last couple of years has a lot to do with that.”
Quality pitching should keep Red Bay (10-9 through Sunday, 1-1 in area play) right in the hunt alongside Phil Campbell (12-6, 1-1) for postseason play. According to Raper, his pitchers (including 6’5 senior lefty Hayden Copeland, who once struck out 17 Red Bay hitters in a game as a sophomore and is averaging better than a K per inning this season) aren’t necessarily seeking strikeouts—merely strikes.
“We have a system,” Raper said, “and this is our third year in it, called AP3: ‘After three pitches.’ After three pitches, we wanna have a one-two count or have the ball in play. Thirteen pitches or less is a quality inning. I think that helps our kids pound the zone and pitch to contact. That’s helped us. We’re not really trying to strike people out; we’re just trying to throw more strikes than we have in the past. That helps us, too.
“Some of it, too, is I just don’t think people are hitting the ball as well as they have in the past. We’re not, I know. I was talking with Coach Maggerise the other day, and they’re not hitting it as well as they did last year. The pitching is better and the hitting is worse—that’s the way it is on my team, anyway.”
Perhaps hitters aren’t as intent as they used to be, collectively, on not striking out. Ward, however, is more apt to give credit where credit is due.
“I think it is still a big deal [to go down on strikes]. Obviously, nobody wants to strike out,” the former Russellville High, Shelton State and UNA standout said. “But when you’re facing good pitching, it’s not as much of a let-down when you’re at the plate and you strike out.”
