The 2024 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 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 rankings 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 ranks in each AHSAA classification, as well updating our Power 25 overall rankings. One thing, especially, you don’t want to miss are our scheduled podcasts with guests from across the state, as well as the recaps and previews of the big games we’re covering.

*Please note the information has been gathered from head coaches across the state, based on their replies to the questionnaire we distributed over this offseason.

High School: Austin Black Bears
Head Coach: Hunter Smothers
Classification: AHSAA Class 7A
Area Number: Class 7A, Area 8
2023 Record (Finish): 11-22 (No Postseason)
No. of Returning Positional Starters: 6
No. of Returning Pitchers: 5
Team Strengths: Returning Experience, Team Speed

 

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TOP RETURNING PLAYERS

• 1B/OF Cole Walker (2024; uncommitted)
• OF Ethan Wynn (2024; uncommitted)
• RHP/INF Bryant Jones (2025; uncommitted)
• LHP/OF Easton Palmer (2025; uncommitted)

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TOP UNDERCLASSMEN

• SS/RHP Bentley Stidham (2026)
• RHP/INF Levi Morgan (2026)

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TEAM OUTLOOK

The Austin Black Bears enter the 2024 season with a new face at the helm, as Hunter Smothers takes over the head coaching job after serving as an assistant coach at Bob Jones HS for the past few seasons. He'll look to lead the Black Bears in the right direction this spring with intriguing returners coming back on both sides of the ball. 

After failing to make the postseason last year competing in a difficult area in the highest classification in Alabama, the Black Bears are sure to be eager to hit their brand-new turf field this spring and have enough pieces returning to be a competitive club. The coaching staff believes this team should be fairly athletic with good team speed and should also benefit from their overall returning talent from last year. 1B/OF Cole Walker (2024) was one of their key offensive contributors a season ago, and returns for his senior campaign looking to once again lead the offense. Walker, an uncommitted right-handed power bat, sported a .358 batting average as a junior and added 12 extra base hits and a .931 OPS. He'll look to drive in players like OF Ethan Wynn (2024), who is another returning senior that has plus speed and can cover tons of ground in the outfield. He's also coming off a junior season where he hit .300 in batting average. RHP/INF Bryant Jones (2025) has made some sizable strides during the off-season and is an arm that should log plenty of meaningful innings at the front of their rotation. He's made a good jump in velocity, and should also be a middle-of-the-order bat for the Black Bears. LHP/OF Easton Palmer (2024) is another returning upperclassmen who is expected to be a valuable piece both at the plate and on the mound. The senior southpaw, who is also expected to be at the front of their pitching rotation, can mix his pitches effectively and will be another returning middle-of-the-order bat. The Black Bears will also need some younger players to step into important roles this spring after solid seasons at the junior varsity level last spring. SS/RHP Bentley Stidham (2026) is expected to be their starting shortstop and will throw some innings out of the bullpen, while RHP/INF Levi Morgan (2026) should be another arm that sees valuable time on the mound for the Black Bears.

After failing to make the postseason the past few seasons in Class 7A, the Black Bears hope to be right in the thick of it during area play at the end of the regular season. They'll compete in Area 8 against Bob Jones, Florence, and James Clemens for a berth in the playoffs at the end of the season. With multiple returning starters on both sides of the ball this spring, Austin should be a competitive club in Class 7A in 2024. 

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Find more information on the 2024 Austin High School program below:

+ Follow them on X: @AHS_BSBL
+ Visit the Prep Baseball Alabama, 2024 HS Team Previews

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FOLLOW PREP BASEBALL ALABAMA THROUGHOUT THE SPRING

+ Prep Baseball Alabama on X
+ Prep Baseball Alabama on Instagram
+ Prep Baseball Alabama on Facebook

 

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