The 2022 high school baseball season is quickly approaching and as usual, excitement abounds throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across Alabama.

Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in Montgomery 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: Phil Campbell Bobcats 

Coach’s Name: Jonathan Raper 

Classification: AHSAA 3A 

Area Number: Area 15 

No. of Returning Positional Starters: 3 

No. of Returning Pitchers: 2 

Team Strengths: Experienced Returners, Defense, Team Speed

Top Returning Players:

• SS/RHP Mason Swinney (Alabama, 2022)
• UTL/RHP Bryant Hyde (2023)
• C Bryant Anthony (2023)
• LHP/1B Cam Habada (2023)

Top 2023 Prospects:

• 3B/RHP Kyle Pace (2023)
• UTL/RHP Cole Pace (2023)
• OF/LHP Sage Raper (2023)
• OF/LHP Hunter Baker (2023)
• 1B Clay Morgan (2023)

Top 2024 & 2025 Prospects:

• C/2B Cody Quinn (2024)
• OF Isac Hill (2024)
• 3B/RHP Gage Baker (2024)
• 2B Jacob Barnwell (2025)
• 1B Cale Faust (2025)
• 3B/OF Noah Raper (2025)

Team Outlook

The Phil Campbell Bobcats come into the spring of 2022 looking to repeat as the Class 3A State Champions after a historic 2021 season that saw them post an impressive 42-5 record. The Bobcats swept the Class 3A State Finals over Bayside Academy, and will look to have that same success this spring.

The Bobcats return three key starters from last year's lineup that posted quality offensive production from the middle of the order. SS/RHP Mason Swinney (Alabama) is easily the leading returner for the Bobcats at the plate and on the mound. Swinney is a four-year starter for Phil Campbell and is one of the top positional players in the state of Alabama. He's a really athletic and strong middle infielder with pop from the right side of the plate and cements himself as a two-way threat with a fastball that can get into the low-90's. UTL/RHP Bryant Hyde is coming off a strong summer that saw a couple of standout performances at PBR events. Hyde is an athletic utility-type player who has always seems to find solid contact from the right side. He's a three-year starter for the Bobcats and brings a lot of versatility to the table defensively. C Bryant Anthony is another junior who had a good showing across the summer & fall circuit. Anthony will be a quality hitter in the middle of the order, and handles all arms well behind the plate. The junior caught every inning last spring for the Bobcats, so he'll surely be one of the leaders again this spring. Including Swinney, the Bobcats return two pitchers from last year's team, so they'll be looking for some pitchers to log some key innings this spring. LHP/1B Cam Habada has a chance to be one of those arms after seeing limited action last spring, but also had some success during those outings. He's a low-80's arm with good command for all off-speed offerings. 

Outside of the returners mentioned above, Phil Campbell will need some other players to step into bigger roles this spring. Some of those players to watch for will be 3B/RHP Kyle Pace, UTL/RHP Cole Pace, OF/LHP Sage Raper, OF/LHP Hunter Baker, 1B Clay Morgan, C/2B Cody Quinn, OF Isac Hill, 3B/RHP Gage Baker, 2B Jacob Barnwell, 1B Cale Faust & 3B/OF Noah Raper. The Bobcats should once again be one of the teams to beat in Class 3A and will look to defend their title from 2021.

 

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