Photo by Erin Nelson.
Homewood’s John Hall (16) turns to make the throw after fielding a ground ball during a game against Chelsea at Homewood High School on April 6.
For eight straight years, Lee Hall has penciled in a player atop his lineup who shared a common last name.
For six years, that Hall was his son. But for the last two years, John Hall has hit leadoff for the Homewood High School baseball team. There’s no relation between coach and player, but the question gets asked often.
“Every single game, somebody asks me,” John Hall said.
After coaching sons Carson and Josh for several years, Lee Hall has enjoyed getting to still see the Hall name in the lineup the last two years. He said it will be a sad day the final time he writes John’s name on the lineup card.
“We have a lot of fun with the fact that he hits leadoff and his last name is Hall,” Lee Hall said.
John has played on the varsity team since his freshman year and has started every day since his sophomore campaign. He played second base in 10th grade and has settled in as the team’s shortstop the last two springs.
Lee Hall knew John would be a varsity player from the beginning. As a freshman, he helped the Patriots as a courtesy runner and as a late-innings defensive player before becoming a starter the following year.
“I’m watching him at practice thinking, ‘This kid is not going to play freshman baseball, and he’s not going to play JV baseball,’” Lee Hall said. “We’re going to pull him up because he has baseball instincts, and he has a motor that won’t quit.”
John is the captain of the Patriots, as one of seven seniors on this year’s squad. Lee Hall looks deeper than that, though. For years, Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees was called “The Captain” for his leadership skills on and off the field.
“He’s that guy who comes to practice, he’s the first in line, he’s the first one leading everybody, and he’s very vocal with the guys,” Lee Hall said. “He plays with an intensity that we wish all of our guys would play with.”
John has strong hand-eye coordination, reads the ball well off the bat and leads the team well. His stature won’t allow him to be mistaken for a big home run hitter, but he makes up for what he lacks in size with desire.
“To maximize that, I just play hard,” he said. “I play as hard as I can and play with passion and freedom, and I just love the game so much. I just play as hard as I can because that’s all I can do, really.”
“He’s a good runner. He gets hit by pitches, he walks, he gets base hits, he can bunt, steal bases and defensively, he makes all the routine plays, and every once in a while will make a spectacular play for us.”.
The last few years, Homewood has had a pretty straightforward path to the playoffs, but that is far from the case this year. The Patriots used the first two months of the season to get ready for that stretch run and had plenty of flashes of brilliance.
Homewood surprised some by advancing out of Class 6A, Area 9, finishing second in the area ahead of Briarwood and Mountain Brook. Chelsea went a perfect 6-0 in area play, but Homewood went 3-3 and earned its way in to the postseason.
“We just were hoping to peak at the right time,” Lee Hall said.
**This story appeared in the May edition of Homewood Star. Homewood advanced to the second round of the Class 6A playoffs this spring.
