(By Don Meador, The Citizen-Times, Used with permission)
The Allen County-Scottsville Patriot baseball team is scheduled to open their 2017 season in tournament play on Friday, March 10 at South Warren. The new season will bring a Patriot team poised to reach the Region 4 tournament for a second consecutive year.
Coach Scott Stamper will start his fifth season at the helm of the Patriots. Stamper expects this 2017 edition to build on the experience of a team that returns multiple players with varsity playing time.
“For the first time in a long time we will have a lot of experience coming back,” Stamper said. “We will have the opportunity to run four, five, or six guys on to the mound that will give us a chance to win. We feel like we have a chance to be sound defensively. We have several guys that can do different things, that are very versatile in what positions they can play.”
The Patriots will only have 21 kids in the program but several of the players have been with the Patriot varsity team for several years.
“Our juniors and seniors have been a productive part of the program for the last couple of years,” Stamper noted. “We will lean on those guys to lead the way and show the younger guys how we get after it and have another shot at a District championship.”
The Patriots defeated Barren County and Glasgow last May to claim what many saw as an unexpected District title.
“On paper, we weren’t supposed to win that,” Coach Stamper recalls. “The last three weeks of the regular season last year, we didn’t win many games but we didn’t lose many games. We forced other teams to beat us. So, I knew coming into the District we were swinging the bats well and playing solid defense. We got the pitching performance we needed out of Sheldon Peay and Chris Brown. We got hot and rode the wave.”
Stamper adds that this season is a new season but the goal remains as it is every season---a district championship and an opportunity to go deep into the post season.
“This is a new club and a different team,” Stamper explained. “But, there are championships out there to be won. We are not trying to defend a championship; we are trying to go win a championship.”
This year’s squad will include two seniors---Brendan Ploughe and Zach Sowers.
“Brendon is an outfielder that ran a lot of bases for us last year,” Stamper said. “Zack is a left-handed pitcher and batter. He’s battling a shoulder injury right now. Those two are what I call great teammates. They will keep things lose in the dog out and exciting. They will pull hard for their teammates. They do a great job showing the younger players what it means to be a great teammate.”
The junior class is a large class in number---and a class that returns a vast amount of experience. The class includes Sheldon Peay, Drew Meador, Seth Davis, Jordan Charlton, Marcus Carter, Warren Bray, and Chase Wilson.
“Sheldon Peay stepped us last year on the mound and became our work horse,” Stamper noted. “He will be expected to do that again this year. Drew Meador went down with an elbow issue last year at spring break is back, healthy, and ready to go behind the plate for us. He’ll be behind the plate 90-95 percent of the time. Seth Davis is a guy that has developed his pitching over the summer in terms of velocity. Now, he’s a guy that we are looking at being in our starting rotation. He has thrown a lot of JV innings in the last two year with the purpose to get him ready to go at the varsity level. Jordan Charlton will be a bull pen guy for us on the mound. Marcus Carter is coming in from basketball but we are hoping that he will continue to show what he showed the last part of last year. He’ll be in the middle of our lineup. Warren will be our left-fielder. He can play any outfielder positions. Hopefully, his bat will get hot and stay hot.”
The last junior is Chase Wilson---a starter the past two seasons that may or may not be back this season. Wilson---the starting quarterback on the Patriot football team---suffered a season-ending ACL tear against Warren East last September. Wilson is well on his way to a full recovery---yet the question remains if he will be ready to play on the diamond by season’s end.
“We are hoping that by spring break, Chase will be able to do some baseball related activities,” Stamper said. “We just don’t know. I keep telling him to keep doing what the doctors and therapists are telling you to do. If he’s here and ready to go by May 1, I might just do a back flip. The injury he suffered is tough to come back from and be ready to go. He will come back and be stronger but it may not happen by May. It may be June. We are doing everything we can to support Chase. When he’s ready to go and he can help us, he’ll be in the line-up. He has started for us the last two years on daily basics. We are not going to rush his recovery. We are taking it day-by-day yet planning our season without him. If we get him back, it will be a bonus.”
The Patriot sophomore class is not without a ton of experience. The group includes Tristan Brooks, Cayden Ross, Brett Rippy, Aaron Howell, Zack Ausbrooks, Hunter Foster, and Colby Lafitte.
“A big chunk of the sophomores will be the other pieces of the puzzle,” Stamper said. “Tristan Brooks is a left-handed that will see action. He is an infielder that can play at of the four infield positions. Cayden Ross had a confidence-building season on the basketball floor and will be our centerfielder. He’s a fun kid to watch on the baseball field. Brett Rippy is also coming off the basketball court. He is a middle infielder. Aaron Howell planted himself in right field last year but struggled with the bat until the last week of the season. He ended up with a great District tournament. Zack Ausbrooks is a left handed pitcher that we hope will develop a bulldog attitude. Hunter Foster is a big strong kid that’s pushing for time at first base and on the mound. Colby LaFitte is an infielder that we hope can develop a little more.”
The remaining Patriots in the program will see action at the freshman and junior varsity levels to help them develop their skills. However, freshman Owen Stamper is expected to be used at the varsity level in some way.
“Owen will dress varsity and probably be in the line-up on a daily basics,” Stamper said. “We will look for him to play in the infield and right now, he’s in our starting rotation. He can also bounce around and play several positions. He has gotten stronger, taller, and bigger. He played in need-to basics last year.”
Coach Stamper points out that several things will be keys to AC-S winning games consistency and championships.
“You need to have three arms that can go out and shut people down,” coach Stamper noted. “Second, you need to have a lock-down defense that doesn’t give away freebies. Offensively, you have to have timely hits. We got timely hits last year late in the year.”
The coach added that his team will have to replace several kids that provided an offensive punch last season.
“We are replacing our lead-off hitter, our four-hole hitter who batted over 400, and we replacing the five-six hole kind of guy that sparked us in the district tournament,” Coach Stamper pointed out. “We are replacing a lot of hits, runs, and RBI’s. Someone is going to have to step in and step up. All the guys are working extremely hard.”
The Patriots (12-17 last year) are expected to be contenders to repeat as District 15 champions. However, each district rival brings something to the table.
“On paper, Glasgow (22-15) lost a lot of key players but they bring back one of the most dominant pitchers in the region in Dalton Shumate,” Coach stamper said. “Since he was a freshman we have seen him six or seven times. He threw two no-hitters against us in the regular season last year. With Shoemate on the mound, Glasgow is hard to beat. Barren County (21-12) lost a lot of players but they have three kids that are really good players. Monroe County (5-13) has not had a ton of success the last few years so they will be hungry. We want to be the one-seed so our focus will be to win our district games to get that one-seed.”
The Patriots will scrimmage Friday at 5 p.m. against Edmonson County at Patriot Field. One week later, AC-S opens the year against Daviess County at South Warren---part of a round-robin event that will see the Patriots against South Warren and Christian County on Saturday, March 11. AC-S’s home-opener will be on Saturday March 18 in games against Louisville Manual and Grayson County.