AL HS Team Preview: Jacksonville Golden Eagles

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: Jacksonville Golden Eagles 

Coach’s Name: Jamison Edwards 

Classification: AHSAA 4A 

2022 Record: 19-12

Area Number: Class 4A, Area 9 

No. of Returning Positional Starters: 4 

No. of Returning Pitchers: 2 

Top Returning Players:

• RHP/INF Grant Patterson (2023)
• INF Jim Ogle (2024)

Team Outlook

The Jacksonville Golden Eagles made a fairly deep run into last year's Class 4A playoffs making it to the Elite 8 before falling to the hands of a talented Etowah club that made it to the championship. This year, The Golden Eagles will have a good amount of players to replace, but have high hopes of making it back to the playoffs in 2023.

With four positional players coming back from last year's team, the Golden Eagles will look for those players to lead the way early on for some of the newer players that will step into bigger roles. One player that Coach Edwards and Co. will be glad to have back at full strength this year will be RHP/INF Grant Patterson (2023). Patterson battled through an injury for most of the season last year, but was very production both at the plate and on the mound when he was healthy. He'll be one of the seniors and upperclassmen on this team that will be looked upon for senior leadership. Another player from last year's team to keep an eye on in 2023 will be INF Jim Ogle (2024). Ogle enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign in 2022, where he hit in the middle of the lineup and posted a .362 batting average in the process. In addition to Patterson and Ogle, there are sure to be many more players for Jacksonville that will be looked upon for offensive production and to provide some key innings on the mound. 

Jacksonville will have some holes to fill to start off this season, but there's no reason to believe that they can't be right back in the thick of it in Class 4A once the end of the season comes around. With a few returners coming back from last year's lineup and a couple pitchers returning, look for Jacksonville to have another successful season in 2023.

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