Journal photo by Jordan Wald.
By Rubin E. Grant
A year after Hoover made a remarkable run at the Class 7A baseball state championship, Bucs senior catcher Lucas Steele is optimistic that they can go all the way this year.
Hoover began the 2021 season with a 3-9 but turned things around to reach the playoffs. Then, the Bucs proceeded to knock off three ranked teams with series victories over No. 6 Bob Jones, No. 1 Hewitt-Trussville and No. 3 Florence to reach the championship series.
Their quest for their first title since 2017 ended in the championship series against No. 4 Auburn when the Bucs lost the deciding game 7-6, leaving the bases loaded in the final inning. They finished 27-22.
Coming so close to a state championship has turned the Bucs into a close-knit unit this season.
“I’m proud of what we did last year,” Steele said. “It glued us together for this year. Since we were runners-up, we came in looking back at how close we came to winning it last year. So this year, we’re playing an extremely difficult schedule to get us ready for the area to try to get back to the playoffs.”
The Bucs were ranked No. 6 in Class 7A in last week’s Alabama Sports Writers Association poll. Hoover carried a 22-9 record into their Area 5 opener at Tuscaloosa County on Tuesday. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Thursday at Hoover. Next week the Bucs will play three games against area foe Oak Mountain and conclude area play the following week with three games against Thompson.
“I think we have a good chance to win the area,” Steele said. “We’ve got a bunch of good arms, guys like Jack Campell, Tyler Wilson and Samuel Schmidt. I think it comes down to throwing strikes and making the routine plays on defense because we’ve got guys who can hit.”
Last week the Bucs hosted the Walk-On’s Buccaneer Classic, going 4-2 in the three-day spring break event. They posted victories over Brooks 11-0, Harvard-Westlake School from California 3-2, Farragut from Knoxville, Tennessee, 3-1, and Christian Academy of Knoxville 4-2, but lost to Gadsden City 9-4 and Mountain Brook 5-4 in eight innings.
The Bucs have gotten solid production from players such as Steele, outfielder Will Lawrence, outfielder Andrew Batson, catcher-middle infielder Cade Carr, first baseman Carter Milliron, third baseman Conner Prothro and middler infielder R.J. Hamilton.
Steele, the 2021 OTMJ Player of the Year, is one of several seniors who will play at the next level. Steele has signed with Samford, Protho with Central Alabama Community College, outfielder Luke McNeill with Snead State Community College and pitcher Marcus Locklear with Lawson State Community College.
Juniors Wilson (Auburn), Hamilton (Vanderbilt), and Carr (Samford) also have committed to play baseball in college.
“The guys work hard, and it’s a bunch of guys that have been around this thing for a while, and they know what to expect and how to work,” Hoover coach Adam Moseley said.
