By Robert Carter

The North Jefferson News



By the standards of years past, the performance of local high school baseball teams was, shall we say, lackluster by comparison. Not bad by any means, but no north Jefferson team made it past the first round of the playoffs.

But several individuals did have standout seasons, even if team records don’t necessarily coincide. For their efforts of the diamond, we’ve selected 16 players for our North Jefferson News 2009 All-Star High School Baseball Team.

The team is led by Gardendale’s Conner McCain, who was also given an honorable mention for the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 6A All-State Team. McCain played center field, second base and also pitched.

McCain, who was also All-State in football as the Rockets’ quarterback, had a .372 batting average average, and led the Rockets with 25 runs (tied with Landon Kelley) and an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of 1.069.

First baseman Jeffrey Lankford led Gardendale with a .417 batting average. He smacked a team-high 13 doubles and drove in 23 runs.

Chase Handley was the big stick for the Rockets, with 10 doubles, five triples, three home runs and 35 runs batted in. His .646 slugging percentage was tops for the team by a fair margin.

Catcher/pitcher Andrew Busby’s season started out well, but ended badly as he tore his ACL, MCL and PCL on a play at home plate. But in the 24 games before his season-ending injury, he belted 12 doubles and posted a .544 slugging percentage.

The Rockets’ first season in Class 6A, and in one of the toughest areas in the state. Nonetheless, they made it into the first round of the playoffs, and that’s enough to earn Pat Keedy the head coach’s position on our All-Star team.

Mortimer Jordan’s season presented coach Shayne Carnes with some challenges. Instead of having a high-powered offense that fit his style, Carnes was forced to adapt to “small-ball,” which he did with enough success to reach the playoffs.

Clint Brown adapted to the game well, turning in a batting average just a hair below .400. All but four of his hits were singles, but he stretched those hits out 25 times on stolen bases, only being caught once.

Junior infielder/pitcher Skylar Myrick turned in a solid effort on offense with a .339 average, and was 6-3 on the mound.

Senior James Stewart, who saw duty as a first baseman, outfielder and pitcher, led the Blue Devils in triples (5), homers (3), and RBIs (35). His on-base percentage was second only to Myrick, as he took 24 walks.

Senior pitcher Ryan Densmore tied with Myrick for the most wins with six, while allowing only one loss. The pair handled most of the mound duties for the Devils.

Corner captured another area championship, but couldn’t progress any further. Junior pitcher/outfielder Jake Eiland, who battled an ACL injury that carried over from basketball season, led the Yellow Jackets with a .478 batting average.

Eiland was followed closely by senior Derrick Roberts with a .392 average. Junior Jared Humphrey was solid at shortstop, and with Eiland will form the core of a promising team in 2010.

Tabernacle Christian came within a game of capturing the ACEAA state championship. Jeremy Holcombe was a mainstay of the club throughout, clinching the No. 1 seed in the state tournament with a walk-off homer and giving up just two earned runs in the title game.

Jared Higganbotham and Autsin Thompson joined Holcombe on the all-tournament team as well as our All-Star lineup. Higgianbotham was a power at the plate all season, with a home run in the finals. Thompson was the winning pitcher in the state semifinal, and a strong presence on the mound all year.

The 2009 season was not kind to Hayden, but senior Owen Hargett stood out as an all-around athlete and leader on a team loaded with freshmen and sophomores.

Likewise for Fultondale, which only mustered a pair of victories for the year. Senior Landon Robinson, one of only two 12th-graders on the roster, was an anchor at both second base and shortstop, as well as being part of the regular pitching rotation.