Patriots seniors make most of final season

When the season was abruptly ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Homewood High School baseball team was far from its peak level of play.

Despite having 12 seniors on the roster, the Patriots were a largely inexperienced team entering the season. Many of the team’s elder statesmen had bided their time for a couple years and were beginning to solidify themselves as key members of the squad.

“Most of those guys had been waiting their turn to play their senior year, and that’s what’s so sad about it,” Homewood head coach Lee Hall said.

Guys like Kaj Knudsen, Harrison Hawkins, Cam Green, DeMarcus McNeily and Trae Ausmer were among those players making the most of their first and only shot to hold down a starting position for Homewood.

Andrew Rohdy and Alex Ray were seniors that played a significant role in 2019 and continued to produce at a high level in 2020.

On the mound, Sloan Squires was set to be the pitching staff’s ace this spring, but an injury limited him to just two innings in the season’s first game.

Jackson Smitherman stands out as one of the team’s ultimate success stories. After battling a couple of significant injuries during his junior year, he returned to the diamond this spring and put together an outstanding first month for the Patriots, with “no sign of letting up.” He hit for a .529 average and drove in 18 runs in just 34 at-bats.

Caleb Walker, Graham Harrison and John Robert Wallace also had their careers end prematurely.

For those seniors, a March 13 doubleheader against Ramsay would be the final games they would get to play in a Homewood uniform. That day, Hall was informed by Athletic Director Doug Gann that school was going to be suspended at the very least. A couple weeks later, the season was canceled.

“We didn’t say goodbye, but we took a picture with the seniors in right field because we didn’t know whether we’d be back or not,” Hall said.

As for the early portion of the season, Homewood put together an 8-4 record. The Patriots began with a doubleheader sweep of Minor, followed by a blowout win over Pelham. The following week, they dropped a contest to perennial power Cullman, and then they swept a doubleheader with crosstown foe John Carroll.

Homewood’s toughest stretch came in early March, as the team suffered three straight losses, two to Pelham and one to a strong Spain Park team. But the Patriots ended things on a high note, beating Northridge and sweeping a doubleheader with Ramsay in dominating fashion to finish with the 8-4 mark.

After back-to-back deep playoff runs in Hall’s first two years, expectations were tempered for this season after the Patriots lost so many key contributors from those teams. But that fueled this year’s team.

“That was a group that was working hard to prove everybody wrong, because nobody was giving them a shot to be real good,” Hall said.

After Squires’ injury, juniors Will Heisler and Brode Susce combined to give Homewood a strong 1-2 punch on the mound, a tandem Hall believes would have lifted Homewood to an area title and some playoff success.

As for area play, Homewood transitions into a new area next spring that will feature the Patriots, Mountain Brook, Chelsea and Briarwood. Mountain Brook and Chelsea finished the 2020 season ranked a top the Alabama Sports Writers Association rankings in Class 7A and 6A, respectively. Chelsea in 6A and Briarwood in 5A each played in the state championship series last year.

“It’s going to be really competitive, fun baseball,” Hall said.