College "Roomies" Square Off In Ooltewah Invitational

After A Rain Delay, Baseball Tourney Starts On Friday

  • Thursday, March 24, 2016
  • Larry Fleming

The first day of the annual Ooltewah Invitational was postponed due to expected inclement weather, but the teams are in town and eager to perform on Friday and Saturday at various sites around Chattanooga and Bradley County.

It appears that nine-time Alabama state champion Vestavia Hills has gotten a jump on the rest of the 16-team field.

The Rebels already have played 20 games and have a sparkling 17-3 record coming into this weekend’s invitational.

“We get started pretty early down here,” Rebels coach Jamie Harris said Thursday.

In the 1990s, Vestavia Hills was a prep baseball championship machine, winning nine consecutive Class 6A titles from 1991-2000 and seven in a row in the 10-year run starting in 1994.

Only G.W. Long High School has won more Alabama state championships (13) than Vestavia Hills.

“He’s bringing a really good squad up here,” Hitchcox said

Harris was a part of that stunning title run, graduating in 1996. He went off to college and played collegiately at Samford University where he and Owls coach Brian Hitchcox formed the middle infield for the Bulldogs.

Harris was a second baseman and Hitchcox played shortstop.

“Brian and I were roommates for three years and it was great,” Harris said. “Brian was a blue-collar guy, one of the better athletes I’ve been around. He could roll out of bed and get three hits every day.”

Harris is in his first year as the Rebels’ head coach, but was an assistant baseball and football coach for the previous seven years. He coached hitting and fielding with the Rebels’ baseballers.

The Rebels now compete in Class 7A and are coming off a 24-14 record in 2015.

Harris played prep baseball for the legendary Sammy Dunn, who was 647-164 during his time at Vestavia Hills, including all nine state championships. Dunn was diagnosed with stomach cancer in spring 2003 and died in 2004 at the age of 52.

Dal Davis and Tommy Walker coached the Rebels before Harris took over in June 2015.

As for this year’s team, Harris knew he would have “two good arms” at the top of the rotation, but has seen four other pitchers step up and make starting pitching the “strength of our team.”

The Rebels’ one-two mound punch is provided by senior left-hander Sonny Potter, who is committed to Alabama, and junior Caden Lemons, a right-hander committed to Ole Miss.

Having emerged behind Potter and Lemons are senior Zack Ingram, a right-handed starter; senior Nate Dennis, a right-handed reliever; senior Davis Gurosky, a right-handed starter and senior Brett Jones a right-handed starter and reliever.

“Those guys have solidified our pitching staff,” Harris said. “Our ERA is about 1.5 or 1.6. So far we have hit the ball pretty good, but we have to play better defense.”

When it comes to travel, no one can touch coach Kevin Manero’s North Penn High School Knights, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Class 4A defending state champions.

Manero’s bunch made the 12-hour, 736-mile trip on (Tuesday/Wednesday) and probably used Thursday’s rain-out for a little more rest.

Well, in fact, the Knights went bowling.

“Since it was raining, we thought we might as well get some bowling in,” Manero said. “We woke up rarin’ to go and would have rather played some baseball. We had a nice workout this morning over at Ooltewah, but not playing is no big deal. We’ll play two Friday and two Saturday, head back and play our first conference game on Thursday.”

The Knights pulled out of Lansdale at 5:45 a.m. on Wednesday and 12 hours later pulled into Chattanooga.

“We made good time and it wasn’t a bad 12 hours at all,” the coach said.

It’s a trip Hitchcox is familiar with, having played minor league baseball in the Philadelphia Phillies’ farm system at Reading, Pa., from 2001-05, with a few stops at Clearwater, Fla., and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pa., during the 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons.

“North Penn wasn’t far from where I lived when I played with the Phillies,” said Hitchcox, who was drafted in the 25th round of the 1999 amateur draft by Philadelphia.

Like a lot of northern high school teams, the Knights are looking for some quick innings against good competition. Their only on-field work was two scrimmages last week and Thursday is the first day Pennsylvania schools can start regular-season play.

North Penn, which also won state titles in 2009 and 2013, lost heavily in terms of player personnel off last year’s championship team, including all the starting pitchers and starting infielders, Manero said. He’ll be patient this weekend as the squad’s newcomers get comfortable at their positions and gain confidence before league play.

So Manero wanted as much spring break baseball as possible this weekend for his relative young squad.

“A lot of northern teams go to Florida and play teams from the south,” Manero said. “Teams here in Ooltewah will be a little ahead of us and we’ll see a lot of good baseball. That can only make us better in the long run.

“We first looked at Myrtle Beach, but that tournament was full up. We found a South Carolina message board, saw a posting for the Ooltewah tournament and it was on exactly the week we wanted to get away. And the trip wasn’t so far we couldn’t take a bus. And we want to get as many innings as possible under our belts right away. ”

Just because numerous starters would not be back from the 2015 squad, Manero felt strongly he had the talent that would lead to success in 2016.

Senior center-fielder Mason Nadeau, a four-year starter and No. 3 hitter, leads the Knights into this season. He’s the most experienced player and will play collegiately at Penn State.

Left-fielder Alex Peterson, who also plays ice hockey, is entering his third year as a starter.

Manero said he’s excited to see what freshman shortstop Zack Miles can do in this weekend’s games, adding, “A little experience early on will really do him some good.”

Several pitchers “stepped up” for the Knights during their two scrimmages, led by 6 foot 5 inch right-hander Matt Stevenson. In his first year as a starter, Manero believes Stephenson can also benefit from the action he’ll see in the next two days.

Kadar Namey, who has signed with St. Joseph’s, is going to be playing third base this year after handling the team’s first baseman/designated hitter roles last year.

“Kadar is a big, strong 6-6 guy who needs to get his timing down and become consistency,” Manero said. “He was an every-day player for us last year.”

The schedule:

Friday

At Ooltewah

Noon -- Tolono Unity (Ill.) vs. Ooltewah

2:30 -- Vestavia Hills (Ala.) vs. Bearden

5 -- Vestavia Hills vs. Ooltewah

7:30 -- North Penn (Pa.) vs. Bearden

At Bradley Central

Noon -- Sequoyah vs. Franklin County

2:30 -- Bradley Central vs. Franklin County

5 -- Sequoyah vs. Lincoln County

7:30 -- Bradley Central vs. Lincoln County

At Chattanooga Central

Noon -- Jefferson County vs. Chattanooga Central

2:30 -- Cleveland vs. Jefferson County

5 -- Tolono Unity vs. Chattanooga Central

7:30 -- Cleveland vs. Red Bank

At Soddy-Daisy

Noon -- Red Bank vs. Sycamore

2:30 -- North Penn vs. Soddy-Daisy

5 -- Anderson County vs. Sycamore

7:30 -- Anderson County vs. Soddy-Daisy

Saturday

At Ooltewah

10 a.m. -- North Penn vs. Ooltewah

12:30 -- Bearden vs. Lincoln County

3 -- Ooltewah vs. Lincoln County

5:30 -- Ooltewah vs. Jefferson County

At Bradley Central

10 a.m. -- Anderson County vs. Cleveland

12:30 -- Sequoyah vs. Cleveland

3 -- Bradley Central vs. Anderson County

5:30 -- Bradley Central vs. Sequoyah

At Chattanooga Central

10 a.m. -- Franklin County vs. Vestavia Hills

12:30 -- Sycamore vs.Jefferson County

3 -- Sycamore vs. Chattanooga Central

5:30 -- Bearden vs. Chattanooga Central

At Soddy-Daisy 

10 a.m. -- Soddy-Daisy vs. Tolono Unity

12:30 -- Red Bank vs. Tolono Unity

At AT&T Field

1:30 -- North Penn vs. Franklin County

4 -- Vestavia Hills vs. Soddy-Daisy

(If AT&T Field is not available Saturday, North Penn with play the 3 o'clock game vs. Lincoln County at Ooltewah. The Vestavia Hills vs. Soddy-Daisy game at 4 would be moved to Soddy-Daisy and start at 3 p.m.

(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)

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