Recipe for success

It is far too early to tell, but Shane Chappell sees many of the same ingredients with this year’s Pinson Valley High School baseball team as his two most successful teams to date, the 2013 and 2015 squads.

“This is the type of team that could make a run,” he said, “but if they don’t buy into the process and stay goal-oriented and detail-oriented with what we’re trying to do, we won’t.”

The 2013 team was his first at Pinson, a senior-laden team determined to make a run. That group of Indians advanced to the Class 5A semifinals. The 2015 group advanced to the 6A semifinals after a growing year in 2014. The same process seems to have repeated itself in preparation for the 2017 season.

“Last year, we were very inexperienced from a playing standpoint,” Chappell said. “We lost a lot of guys from the year before and were replacing a lot of guys with good players that just didn’t have the experience and innings logged.”

Three ingredients that Chappell saw in the 2013 and 2015 teams are experience, chemistry and talent. Those three things could present themselves once again.

“Last year, we were very underclassmen-dominant and had two seniors, and this year, we’re senior-heavy. They get along, and they hang out outside the field,” Chappell said.

Designated hitter Jody Graves and second baseman Jacob Ingram are the only two starters the Indians are forced to replace this spring, and they have a wealth of talent returning.

On the mound, left-handed pitcher Shelton Clevenger and righty Ben Miller will be the one-two punch for Pinson Valley.

“For us to be what we need to be, we’ve got to have that feeling that we’re going to win the game,” Chappell said. “Both of them can be that.”

When not on the mound, Miller will play a bevy of other positions, depending on need and thanks to his versatility. He also will be one of the team’s top hitters, along with the likes of Blake Sisson, Rudd Mauldin and Jakob Box. 

“Box is a guy I’m expecting to have a big year,” Chappell said. “Last year, about halfway through, he found his groove, and it carried over to the summer. I’m expecting him to be a guy in the middle of the lineup.”

Sisson will handle the majority of the innings behind the plate as the catcher, and Mauldin will move to shortstop this year, after moving around the infield in previous years. Marshal Tanner stepped up at first base last year and should hold that spot once again. C.J. Rudolph is expected to man left field, with Box patrolling center.

All of those positions are expected but never guaranteed.

“No position is ever locked. You’ve got to earn it every day,” Chappell said, who also noted there are several sophomores and juniors in the program who have added to the team’s depth.

Chappell also likes his team’s speed, an asset that will allow the Indians to be more aggressive on the base paths and create more opportunities bunting and with other aspects of the short game. 

Five of the 10 seniors on the Indians already have signed to play college baseball somewhere, affirming the talent aspect of the Indians. A few others also will get the chance to play somewhere.