FEBRUARY 2020
THE BATTERY The Official Athens Baseball Newsletter
ON DECK Preparing for the 2020 Spring Season
A big THANK YOU to each of you for being a part of the Athens Baseball Family. We preach to our kids about our team being a family and once you are a part of the family there is no backing out. We would like to extend the family to alumni and all our sponsors to keep you involved in our program and let you know what is going on within our program.
our program, we field 5 teams. We have a 7th grade, OUR PROGRAM Within 8th grade, Freshman, JV, and Varsity teams. We currently have 81 players in our baseball program. There are 55 players in the High School Program and 26 in our Middle School Program. We are excited to have all 81 players represent our program. They exceed the expectations and standards that are in place to represent the Athens Baseball Program. We are thankful to have 8 coaches with the varsity program. Head Coach: Chuck Smith. Assistant Coaches: Matt Stockman, Shannon Coppell, Cameron Harris, Jason Sandlin, Shawn Herring, Rick Mould, and Jordan Pugh. Our middle school program has 3 coaches. Head Coach: Austin Marsh. Assistant coaches: Jonathan Owsley, Jarrod Harrison.
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We are allowed to work with 5 players at a time and do various defensive and hitting drills to prepare our guys for the season for 2 hours per player per week. We ended our fall with Golden Eagle Challenge Week, where we split into 4 teams and competed
Fall Report Our guys killed it this fall in our weight lifting program. Our players worked out 4 days a week with conditioning twice a week. A huge thanks to Reid Lancaster and TOC for allowing us to use Reid as our Strength and
against each other with different events. There were events that were physically demanding and tested our mental toughness while we also had various fun events throughout the week.
conditioning coach. He has helped us make great strides in developing our athletes. Along with lifting, we started our throwing program in September to condition our arms and prepare for the upcoming season. Also, per AHSAA rules we started our 5 on 1s similar to how Division 1 get to do.
"You can't beat the person who never gives up." Babe Ruth
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Upcoming Season The first day of practice began the first day we got back from winter break on January 6th. The first three weeks we continued our throwing program, bullpens, and lifting. We continue to work 5 on 1s for hitting as we wait for the first day where can involve the whole team in hitting drills and BP. On January 27th, we begin full team practice. Our players have been working hard and we are pleased with the effort they bring to the table each and every day.
Upgrade to Facilities Along with preparing for the upcoming seasons, we have made upgrades in the baseball facilities by adding a video board above the scoreboard in left field. We are thankful for all our sponsors in helping us with the upgrades. Sponsors will be listed at the bottom as we will have a Sponsors night for each Sponsor. At the middle school, we had the backstop fence tore down and moved it closer by adding a concrete wall with a net going dugout to dugout. Potential Upgrades will be enclosing the hitting facilities. Baseball and Softball will begin funding for that in the next month.
Important Events
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First game: February 17th vs. North Jackson @ Home. Varsity will begin at 1:00 with JV starting right after. Freshman: February 18th DH vs. James Clemens @ Home @ 4:30. Military Appreciation Day: February 29th vs. Priceville, Sparkman @ 11:00 and 3:00 Teacher Appreciation: March 24th vs. West Limestone @ 4:30 Alumni Day: March 28th DH vs. Columbia 10:00 We would like to invite all Athens Baseball Alumni so we can honor you for everything you did for the program. Elementary School Night: April 6 vs Lee-Huntsville @ 4:30 for Athens Elementary, Spark Academy, and AIS April 7 vs. Decatur @ 4:30 for Julian Newman and Brookhill Senior Night: April 6 vs. Lee-Huntsville Sponsor Nights: February 17th vs. North Jackson 1:00 – TOC February 22nd vs Hazel Green, Lawrence County 11:00 and 3:00 – CDPA and Canebrake Club February 29th vs. Priceville, Sparkman @ 11:00 and 3:00 - Winter Homes March 3rd vs. Westminster Christian Academy @ 4:30 – First Metro Bank March 10th vs. James Clemens JV@4:30 V@6:30 – All Star Plumbing March 17th vs. Grissom JV@4:30 V@6:30 – Dream Key Real Estate March 24th vs. West Limestone @4:30 – HITS Athletic Training and First Baptist Church March 28th vs. Columbia @10:00 & 12:00 – Jimmy Smith Buick GMC and Bojangles April 6th vs. Lee @4:30 – Yellow Hammer Roofing April 7th vs Decatur @4:30 – ALFA Insurance