Red Bay’s Hand named Class 2A Coach of the Year, seven local players earn All-State honors
One coach and seven players from Franklin County were honored by the Alabama Sports Writers Association on June 8th when the association released its 2024 All-State baseball teams. Red Bay had three selections, Russellville had four, and Belgreen had one.
Headlining the local selections was Red Bay head coach Donovan Hand, who the ASWA named the Class 2A Coach of the Year. The Tigers also had two players named to the Second Team: Junior pitcher Ty Reynolds and senior outfielder Eli Farris. Reynolds and Farris were both 2024 Franklin Free Press All-County Team selections and were critical pieces in Red Bay’s historic season.
Hand won the Coach of the Year award in his third season at Red Bay after leading the Tigers to 21-9 record and an appearance in the semifinals of the Class 2A playoffs. It’s the second time in the last five years that Red Bay has had a coach honored with the yearly award, the last being Richard Maggerise in 2019. Hand, a former Major League Baseball player, said he’s won his fair share of awards in his career, but the Coach of the Year honor is among the most special to him. For Hand the award symbolizes the coming together of the program as a whole rather than just his actions.
“If it’s not the top of the list then it’s near the top. I’m the name that gets the award, but it takes more than me.” he said. “Other awards that I’ve won in my (playing) career I won doing things I could control most times, but with this it was people believing in me that we could get the outcome we wanted with the plan that I give them. I think that’s what makes it so special to me.
“Without your players you don’t get to be the coach of the year, and without your assistants you don’t get to be coach of the year,” Hand added. “I can’t control everything and control every outcome, but I can give them a plan. Our players did an unbelievable job of executing and being coachable and getting through hardships. Our assistant coaches stayed on the grindstone and that’s what’s allowed it to happen.
“To be able to lead a program like this, a program we’re working on establishing, I think that’s what makes this award special,” he said. “I’m proud of our program, proud to be able to lead it, and looking forward to the future of it.”
Red Bay’s Reynolds was selected as a pitcher on the Second Team after a 9-2 season on the mound. The junior appeared in 14 games on the bump, giving up 26 runs, 16 earned, off 36 hits, while striking out 88 batters. He ended the season with a 1.76 ERA. Though he was selected for the All-State team as a pitcher, Reynolds was also a massive asset in the Tigers’ offense, as well, batting .434 with an on-base percentage of .500 in 99 at-bats. He had 32 RBI, hit four home runs, and scored 25 runs.
“Ty’s numbers speak for themselves,” Hand said. “He’s a leader but not vocally. People just watch what he does, and he’s a great athlete. I’m really proud for him because when you put in as much work as he has and had a year like he’s had, you want to see some results. It’s really great for him to have an accolade like this to add to what he’s done.
“I”m proud of him. He’s a good baseball player, no doubt about it, and he deserves everything he’s got,” he added.
Farris, tabbed as a Second Team outfielder, appeared in 30 games for the Tigers and finished his final season with a .384 batting average and a .491 on-base percentage. Farris had 33 hits, eight doubles, and three home runs, as well as 22 RBI and 23 runs scored.
“When I came to Red Bay three years ago (Farris) was here, and he’s the guy that’s stayed with us throughout everything. He’s played baseball his whole life and to go out the way he has with a final four team and now All-State recognition, it’s just a testament to his hard work and his commitment in our program,” Hand said. “He got our team captain award this year at our banquet and he’s our true leader.
“I told him and our other senior this year, Holden Inmon, that our goal is every time we graduate seniors, I want them to leave the program better than they found it and that’s what he’s done,” Hand added. “I couldn’t be prouder of him for that, but also I’m really proud of the recognition he’s getting for the hard work he’s put in in his three years here.”
Russellville had the most selections of the group with four, all pivotal for the Golden Tigers in their second straight playoff quarterfinal appearance. Senior shortstop Brandt Cummings was picked on the Class 5A First Team as an infielder, followed by First Team designated hitter Neyland Baker, a junior. Senior Cayden Johns got the nod on the Second Team as a utility player, and senior second baseman Daniel Askew was an Honorable Mention.
Cummings, at the plate, finished the year with a .398 batting average and a .450 on-base percentage. He hit 13 doubles, two triples, and two home runs in his final season with Golden Tigers, tallying 31 RBI on 53 hits and came around to score himself 38 times. Baker, also selected for the North-South All-Star Baseball Game to be played later this summer, led the Golden Tigers in RBI this past season with 41 in 37 games played. He ended his junior campaign with a .352 batting average, a .478 on-base percentage, 15 doubles, and 22 runs scored.
“Brandt and Neyland both were staples in our offense, which I thought was our greatest team ability this year, and those two guys were at the forefront,” Russellville head coach Jess Smith said. “Brandt led us in just about every offensive category this season, and he has to be one of the top offensive shortstops in the state of Alabama this year with his First Team selection.
“Neyland was at the forefront of every offensive category, as well. It’s not very often in high school baseball that your offensive lineup hits over .320 as a team, but we did that this year, and a large part of it was those two guys leading the charge,” he added.
Johns, for his contributions in multiple roles, was picked as a Second Team utility player. On the mound Johns pitched 62 and a third innings in 13 games, finishing with a 7-4 record and a 2.02 ERA. Allowing 30 runs, 18 earned, the senior struck out 52 batters and also added one save.
“The last two years Cayden Johns has been a huge asset to our asset in all three phases of the game,” Smith said. “He’s just an all-around solid baseball player, and I think he’s definitely deserving of that utility title because that’s what he was for us—a jack of all trades type of guy.
“We knew every time he touched the mound, even if he didn’t have his best stuff, he would give us a chance to win because of his competitiveness,” he added. “He was extremely coachable for two years, and he left no doubt by the beginning of his junior season that he was an everyday staple in our program both at third base and on the mound and hitting in the middle of our lineup.”
Askew, a FFP All-County Team selection, received an Honorable Mention. The infielder, who will be continuing his career at Calhoun Community College next season, played in all 39 games for the Golden Tigers, batting .357 with a .471 on-base percentage. Askew collected 45 hits, including a home run and two triples, knocked in 25 runs and came around to score 44 runs. On the base paths, the senior stole 17 bases.
“I think Daniel was deserving of a First or Second Team or Honorable Mention award this season. He hit at the top of our order in the leadoff spot for us all year long, hit over .350, his on-base percentage was over .450….so the numbers don’t lie,” Smith said. “He was a guy we primarily DH-ed for his junior season—maybe had 20 at-bats max—and then he’s top three in every single offensive category his senior year. To see that growth is really awesome.
“Without him stepping up for us this season, we may not have had the quality of season we had,” he added.
Smith said he’s proud of his four players that received All-State honors, but he added that he felt more Golden Tigers deserved recognition for their performances this season.
“I think a lot of our guys were deserving of all-state honors, as well, but maybe didn’t have the number of at-bats or innings that would’ve qualified them,” he said. “In my mind, Brayden Entrekin, an eighth-grader, based off his stats could’ve been an all-state recipient, but just didn’t have the number of innings. The same with Tripp Cleveland, whose injury at the end took a large portion of those innings away from him.
“And then there’s Michael Scofield, who was one of the unsung heroes of the 2024 Russellville baseball team and doesn’t get a lot of the credit he deserves,” Smith added. “I coach catchers in our program, and I told Michael that we’re like the offensive lineman of our game meaning we’re the foundation of everything but we receive little to no credit.
“Michael hit over .350 and his on-base percentage was over .450, and he only had two errors catching every single game for us behind the plate…so I think I’d be doing him a disservice as his head coach not to sing his praises and say he deserves to be recognized.”
Rounding out Franklin County’s selections for the All-State team is Belgreen’s Will King, chosen as an infielder for the Class 1A All-State Second Team. King, a FFP All-County Team selection, played in multiple positions in the infield for the Bulldogs this season, aiding his team on their way to an appearance in the second round of the playoffs. At the dish, King batted .475 in 108 plate appearances, hitting a team-best two home runs and nine doubles. The senior, who only struck out 10 times, finished with 30 RBI, 44 runs scored, and swiped 28 bags.
“Will was big for us all year," Belgreen head coach Nathan Vincent said. “He's been playing for us since he was in seventh grade, and we all knew he was capable of doing big things if he continued to work hard and keep at it.
"I know he got All-State for infield—of course, he is a really good infielder—but I threw him more on the mound than anyone else this year, and he did a great job pitching for us, too” he added. "I think, offensively, his stats speak for themselves. Batting average, on-base percentage, extra base hits, stolen bases—he can really do it all.
"I’m proud of him, and we’re really happy that he was recognized.”