AL HS Team Preview: St. Clair County Fighting Saints

Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in the Jacksonville/Oxford/Montgomery area at the AISA or AHSAA state championships, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams across the state as we preview individual teams across Alabama. We will take you right up to first pitch this season with these team previews and by continuing our scheduled podcasts and releasing our preseason Top 10 in each AHSAA classification. 

Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across the state. Each week we will be releasing our players of the week, updating the Top 10 in each AHSAA classification as well as a Power 25. One thing that you especially don’t want to miss are our scheduled podcasts with guests from across the state as well as recaps and previews of big games across the state.  

*Please note that all information is based on team preview questionnaires that were sent out and returned by the participating high school coaches.

High School Name: St. Clair County Fighting Saints

Coach’s Name: Steven Nuss 

Classification: AHSAA 5A 

2022 Record: 21-20

Area Number: Class 5A, Area 11 

No. of Returning Positional Starters: 4 

No. of Returning Pitchers: 6 

Team Strengths: Great Leadership from Seniors, Base Running, Defense

Top Returning Players:

• SS Sawyer Motes (Bevill State CC, 2023)
• INF Tyson Stein (2023)
• 3B/RHP Jace Mickens (2023)  

Top 2023 Prospects:

• OF Will Keenum (2023)

Top 2024 Prospects:

• INF/RHP Landen Seelbinder (2024)

Top 2025 & 2026 Prospects:

• OF/RHP Parker Blankenship (2025)
• UTL/RHP Casey Thimaras (2026)
• OF/LHP Cayden Langston (2025)

Team Outlook

The Fighting Saints are fresh off a solid 2022 campaign winning 21 games, including some big wins over Springville, Moody and Alexandria. They'll look to replicate that same success this year with some key components returning to the program from last year's team. 

St. Clair County finished the 2022 regular season as the Area 11 runner-up to Alexandria, and were faced with a tough task of going on the road to Guntersville in the 1st round of the Class 5A playoffs. After facing adversity and losing Game 1 of the series, the Fighting Saints went on to win Games 2 & 3 to advance to the 2nd round. They were, however, defeated by Russellville, the eventual Class 5A State Champs, in two games to end their successful season. They'll look to make it back to the playoffs this year with hopes of making a deeper run. SS Sawyer Motes (Bevill State CC signee, 2023) is a big piece coming back for the Fighting Saints this year, as he's been the starting shortstop ever since his freshman season. Motes has played a ton of innings and will be one of their best hitters this spring, while also closing out games in save situations on the mound. INF Tyson Stein (2023) is an offensive catalyst that returns for his senior season. Stein does a stellar job of getting on base offensively and should move to 1st base this season. Another senior to watch for will be 3B/RHP Jace Mickens (2023), who has pitched a ton of big games over his high school career. He'll be a veteran guy for the Fighting Saints that they'll rely on heavily.

In addition to some of these returners, the Fighting Saints have some other upperclassmen they'll look to for some offensive output and innings on the mound. OF Will Keenum (2023) is a physical right-handed hitter that should drive in runs this spring, while INF/RHP Landen Seelbinder (2024) will be a pitcher they rely on and should be a table-setter for the middle of the order offensively. With just four positional starters and six pitchers returning this spring, St. Clair County will need some younger players to step into larger roles this year. Some of those to watch for will be OF/RHP Parker Blankenship (2025), UTL/RHP Casey Thimaras (2026) and OF/LHP Cayden Langston (2025). They all should provide depth on the mound and will look for opportunities offensively. Expect the Fighting Saints to be a tough out in Class 5A once again in 2023.

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