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Second-round showdown: An opposing coach breaks down the Phil Campbell-Mars Hill matchup

The Red Bay baseball team narrowly missed out on a playoff berth this season, but Tiger head coach Richard Maggerise has had plenty to keep him busy the last few days.

Ever since Phil Campbell and Mars Hill put away their respective first-round opponents last Friday to set up a much-anticipated second-round showdown, Maggerise has been in high demand. The Bobcats (26-8 and ranked No. 4 in Class 2A) and the Panthers (22-10 and ranked No. 3) haven’t faced each other since last year’s second-round meeting (which Mars Hill won in a sweep), but the two teams have a common opponent in Red Bay—and that’s putting it mildly.

“I feel like we’ve played both of them about fourteen times the last two or three years,” Maggerise said on Monday.

In actuality, Red Bay played three games against Mars Hill this season and four against Phil Campbell; prior to sharing Area 14 with the Bobcats this year, the Tigers were in the same area as the Panthers in 2015 and 2016. Maggerise (who is friends with both Mars Hill coach Jay Mitchell and his Phil Campbell counterpart, Jonathan Raper) knows both teams like the back of his hand—which is precisely why his phone started blowing up by Saturday morning.

Richard Maggerise, head baseball coach, has become Richard Maggerise, advance scout.

“I’ve talked to both coaches and gave them my opinion, while trying to be as neutral as possible,” Maggerise said on Monday. “I told them both that I’m friends with the other coach, but I don’t mind trying to help.”

The Free Press decided to get in on the action as well and enlisted Maggerise to break down this weekend’s series, which is scheduled to begin on Friday in Florence. Here are a few quick takeaways from the unofficial scouting report he shared with us:

•Phil Campbell has the more dynamic lineup, particularly at the top.

The Bobcats, who bat .293 as a team and average 7.6 runs per game, have been led all season by the one-two punch of senior Hayden Copeland and junior Peyton Thomas at the top of the order. The lefty-hitting Copeland, who will carry a 17-game hitting streak into this weekend’s series, has become a force in the leadoff spot, batting .402 on the season with 43 runs scored and 28 stolen bases in 28 tries. He’s posted a stellar .580 on-base percentage, thanks largely to a team-best 37 walks—an incredible number considering the size of the strike zone he presents to opposing pitchers.

“You look at his stature and his physical size,” Maggerise said, “and you think, ‘Okay, he’s 6’6, probably 210 pounds. We can’t come in on this guy or he’ll hit one off the wall.’ But he’s very much a contact hitter. He doesn’t strike out a lot [only eight times all season]. He’s gonna put the ball in play, and he’s okay with going to the opposite field.

“Another thing with him is, he gets right in there on the plate. He will crowd the plate and force you to throw in or throw away from him, and he’s okay with taking a walk. If he gets on, it’s almost automatic—they score. People focus a lot on Peyton, and that’s when [Copeland] gets the pitcher. He’s gonna be on base.”

Opposing teams can’t be blamed for fixating on Thomas, who possesses that rarest of offensive tools in high school baseball—game-changing power. The 6’1, 190-pound slugger has hit 20 home runs over the past two seasons, 11 of which have come in 2017. Of his team-high 44 hits on the year, 23 have gone for extra bases, and he’s now batting .449 after going 5-for-6 in a first-round sweep of Billingsley. Thomas also leads Phil Campbell in RBIs (31), runs scored (47), multi-hit games (12) and OBP (.594).

Maggerise didn’t mince words when Thomas’s name came up during a 45-minute chat with Mitchell on Saturday.

“I told him, ‘I’m not trying to say anything negative about any of your kids, but Peyton Thomas will be the best player on the field,’” Maggerise said. “I’m just speaking the truth. He’s an unbelievable baseball player. I’ve talked to just as many [college coaches] about him as I have my own guys, so that should tell you something. He’s a great kid, and I love the way he plays. He’ll have the opportunity to play at the next level.

“The approach we had going into our series was, ‘You can not let Peyton Thomas beat you.’ Of course, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out you have to be really careful with this guy.”

•Phil Campbell will have to beat the Panthers, because they’re flat-out not going to beat themselves.

Maggerise believes the overall talent may tilt in Phil Campbell’s favor, but Mars Hill does practically everything right. The Panthers minimize their own mistakes and punish opponents for theirs.

“You look at our team and Phil Campbell over the last two or three years,” Maggerise said, “and talent-wise we’ve probably had more college kids than Mars Hill has had. But they keep winning. And it’s because of the way they play. They’re not gonna beat themselves.

“I would probably give the edge as far as small-ball approach and the ability to bunt and run a little more to Mars Hill. Phil Campbell has the edge when it comes to guys in the lineup who at any given time can put one off the wall or over the wall—guys like Peyton Thomas, Gage Roberson, Colby Baker. They don’t have a lot of them in Mars Hill’s lineup. What Mars Hill is able to do is put the ball in play, hit behind runners, advance runners and do the little things like that really well.

“On the mound, they’re gonna keep the ball down in the zone, and they don’t care if they strike you out. They’re okay with you hitting a routine groundball, because they know they’re gonna field it.”

•Phil Campbell hitters better have a plan, because Mars Hill’s pitchers certainly will.

“When you’re talking about Mars Hill,” Maggerise said, “you’re dealing with intelligent kids. Their pitchers are smart, and in 2A baseball a smart pitcher doesn’t have to be a dominant pitcher. Most of the kids they’re facing are not college athletes. They’ll have holes in their swing. A lot of people try to pull the ball. Mars Hill is really good at scouting the other team and pitching to their weaknesses.”

In particular, Maggerise believes that Phil Campbell’s approach at the plate against what could be a steady diet of soft stuff from Panther pitchers will be paramount. In last week’s first-round sweep of West End, Mars Hill got dual shutouts on the mound from left-hander Seth Swinea (who struck out 11 and allowed just two hits in an 8-0 win) and right-hander Colt Smith (who fanned eight and walked none in five innings in a 14-0 rout). Neither pitcher relies on velocity to succeed.

“[Swinea] is a little lefty who doesn’t throw the ball really hard,” Maggerise said. “But he’s good. He knows how to pitch, and he’ll throw four pitches for strikes. You’ll watch him warm up and say to yourself, ‘We’re gonna hit this kid.’ Then before you know it you look up and it’s 1-0 going to the fifth.

“I think Phil Campbell’s Achilles heel at times has been pitchers who throw soft stuff, guys who don’t throw hard but pitch to contact. At times, Phil Campbell can get a little pull-happy. That will be the difference. If they take that approach, it’s gonna make it tough. If they’re willing to let the ball get deep in the zone and hit it to the opposite field, I think they’ll have a great chance to move on.”

If Maggerise is right, and guys like Copeland, Thomas, Roberson (27 RBIs with 16 walks and only 11 strikeouts), junior cleanup man Brody Nix (.308 average with 21 RBIs, 29 runs and a .414 OBP), junior catcher Joe Hardy (.284 average with 12 extra-base hits and 26 RBIs, 20 of which have come in 13 games since April 1) and nine-hole hitter Nick Taylor (.317 average with 10 doubles, 22 RBIs, 24 runs and a .430 OBP) can resist the urge to yank everything out of the park and instead focus on staying back and using the whole field, Phil Campbell’s chances of getting over the hump against Mars Hill will increase substantially.

•The venue will have little, if any, impact on the outcome.

If the Panthers eliminate Phil Campbell from the postseason for a third straight year, it won’t be because the series is being played in Florence.

“I don’t really think it’s a big deal,” Maggerise said. “Phil Campbell has played there the last two years. They’re comfortable there. They’ve got a veteran bunch. They played in Gulf Shores, which is six hours away, so playing 45 minutes up the road shouldn’t bother them. It’s not a hostile environment you’re going into. It’s a great place to play. It’ll be packed, of course, but Mars Hill fans are really respectful. It’s not one of those situations where you have people breathing down right on top of you, like at some places.”

•This weekend’s winner could be in line for a lengthy postseason stay.

Either Vincent (18-9) or Section (16-11) will be waiting in the next round, but Maggerise likes the winner between Phil Campbell and Mars Hill to keep advancing.

“I do think whoever wins this week will be in the semifinals versus Westbrook Christian,” he said. “I firmly believe that. I’ll tell you what I told Coach Mitchell on Saturday. Phil Campbell is one of the best teams I’ve seen, without a doubt. Top to bottom, they’re as good as anybody. This is the best team Coach Raper’s had, hands down.

“I believe [this weekend] is gonna be a three-game series. I don’t see either team sweeping the other one. Both teams hit the ball extremely well, they can both play defense, and they both have a plethora of pitchers. I’m expecting some great games. I’m actually going to it myself. I told both coaches—when I leave school on Friday, I’m headed to Florence, Alabama.”

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