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Alabama HS Team Preview: New Hope Indians

February 3, 2024
Austin Sharp
Alabama Scouting Director

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: New Hope Indians
Head Coach: Andrew Dennis
Classification: AHSAA Class 4A
Area Number: Class 4A, Area 13
2023 Record (Finish): 17-10 (No Postseason)
No. of Returning Positional Starters: 5
No. of Returning Pitchers: 5
Team Strengths: Senior Leadership, Pitching Depth

 

TOP RETURNING PLAYERS

C Charlie Harbin (10/7/23)

MORE UPPERCLASS FOLLOWS

Class of 2024

  • OF Colby Hall (2024; uncommitted)
  • OF Blake Pence (2024; uncommitted)

OF Colby Hall (5/13/22)

Class of 2025

RHP/SS Dawson Cambron (3/23/22)

TOP UNDERCLASSMEN

TEAM OUTLOOK

The New Hope Indians have seemed to consistently improve year-after-year over the past few seasons and look poised for another strong season in 2024 with plenty of starters returning on both sides of the ball. They look to have the talent this spring again, and will look to reach the Class 4A playoffs in 2024 after missing out on the postseason last season.

The Indians should be led by a strong core of seniors this spring, and they will certainly look to those upperclassmen for senior leadership, which should be one of their team strengths. They will once again compete in a tough area with talented teams, but after going 17-10 in 2023, those returning players should be motivated and will be looking to lead them into the playoffs this spring. The Indians bring back some important pieces both at the plate and on the mound, but none bigger than C Charlie Harbin (Wallace-Hanceville CC, 2024), who has been a staple in their offense and in the heart of their order for the past few seasons. The physical backstop is coming off a junior season where he hit .467 in batting average and added 35 H, 10 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, and 14 BB while just striking six times. He's a senior returner who is poised for a big season, and so is LHP/1B Riley Schutte (Wallace-Hanceville CC, 2024) after coming into his own on the mound last spring. He will once again throw some big innings for the Indians and also make the move to first base defensively this spring. RHP/OF Layton Pohl (2026) may be their top "propsect", as he possesses some high-level tools across the board. Possessing a fastball that works in the upper-80's, the sophomore is looking to build off of last season both at the plate and on the mound. OF Colby Hall (2024) and OF Blake Pence (2024) are a pair of senior outfielders who took big steps forward in 2023, and look primed for breakout senior campaigns. RHP/SS Dawson Cambron (2025) is a multi-sport player who looks to finally be back to full strength after missing some of last season due to injury. He should be one of their top arms in the rotation and provide some valuable contributions at the plate. A couple other juniors to know for this spring are RHP/1B Andrew Dudley (2025) and RHP/INF Grant Maples (2025), both of which played important roles last spring and that should only increase this spring. Rounding it out, RHP/INF Lucas Terry (2027) saw some playing time at the varsity level as an eighth-grader last season, and that should only help him this spring. He's another mutli-sport player who is looking to make a sizable impact in his first full season at the varsity level.

It's easy to see that the Indians have some key pieces coming back this spring, and with the addition of Cambron being healthy, it should only boost their level of play this season. They'll compete in Area 13 against Madison County, Randolph, St. John Paul II, and Westminster Christian Academy for a berth in the playoffs at the end of the regular season. Expect New Hope to be a competitive club and vying for a playoff spot in Class 4A in 2024.

Find more information on the 2024 New Hope High School program below:

+ Follow them on X: @NewHopeHSBaseb1
+ Visit the Prep Baseball Alabama, 2024 HS Team Previews

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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