After Blowout Win, Alabama Baseball Gleaming with Confidence in SEC Tournament

HOOVER, Ala. — No experience in postseason play?

No problem for Alabama baseball.

That was the case on Tuesday afternoon in the Crimson Tide's 9-3 victory over No. 24 South Carolina in the first round of the 2021 SEC tournament.

It was Alabama's first appearance in the event since 2016, and ironically enough, two former Hoover High School standouts played pivotal roles in the Crimson Tide advancing to the double-elimination portion of the bracket on Wednesday against the No. 2-seed Tennessee (1 p.m, SEC Network).

Second baseman Peyton Wilson and relief pitcher Brock Guffey.

The All-SEC Second Team middle infielder opened the scoring in the third inning with an RBI double and added a single and another two-bagger in the fourth and sixth inning, respectively.

Guffey provided three shoutout innings from the bullpen and South Carolina could only manage two hits off of him.

"It's pretty cool that Peyton and Brock Guffey, we have two guys that played at Hoover High School that live within a bike ride of the ballpark," Alabama coach Brad Bohannon said. "So I don't think we've got to worry about the bus getting lost. We can grab those guys and bring them up to the front. Peyton is a leader for our club in just the way he plays. He's just such an aggressive kid. A lot of the sabermetrics would tell me I should hit him in a different spot in the order, maybe the 2 hole, because of his OPS, but I love the way he sets the tone for our offense. Like I want that dude leading off. He's so aggressive, and I want him getting every extra at bat that he might get over the course of the year. I think our other young players see that. You see a guy that's having a lot of success, and he's just really confident and ultra-aggressive. They're like, hey, maybe I should play the game that way. He has a really positive influence on the club in a lot of ways. I thought it was awesome that he got three hits today."

While no one on the Crimson Tide's roster had ever played in a postseason game before Tuesday, being back in the friendly confines of the Hoover Met brought some childhood memories for Wilson.

"Yeah, I've been coming up to these games my whole life." Wilson said. "I'd get checked out of elementary school to come up here. So once I got on the field at first, it was a little weird. I was like, wow, I'm actually here playing and not watching it. I told a lot of guys how it would go. I knew we'd have a bunch of fans here and just how we haven't been here in a while, so people were excited to watch us play and compete out there. It was really fun to get out there and just live out what I had been seeing my whole life. I just had fun while doing it."

Seeing his two local guys succeed made Bohannon ponder if any of the kids playing in the stands in right field would be suiting up for the Crimson Tide in a few years like Wilson and Guffey.

"Brock Guffey got to pitch three innings, just being local guys," Bohannon added. "I swear this is the truth. After coaching third in the middle of the game, down on right field on the hill, I see a bunch of little kids, and I was like, you know, one of those guys is probably going to play shortstop for me in 2032, or one of those guys will probably catch for me in 2029 or something. A bunch of these guys have been to these games, and I'm just really happy for them that they had a good day here today."

Now, Alabama is matched up with Tennessee, who won finished the regular season 42-14 overall and 20-10 in SEC play on its way to winning the Eastern Division.

The Crimson Tide and Volunteers met back on Easter weekend in April for a three-game set at Thomas-Sewell Stadium in Tuscaloosa with Tennessee winning two out of three.

However, one of Alabama's losses came in extra innings and the other one was a 9-8 thriller where the Crimson Tide left the tying run 90 feet from home plate.

Alabama will almost certainly need another win in Hoover to feel better about its chances about playing in an NCAA regional for the first time since 2014. The victory against South Carolina guarantees it two more games but the Crimson Tide isn't backing down from the conference's best.

"Our kids are really always confident," Bohannon said. "That doesn't mean you always win. There's some areas of the game that we need to be better, and maybe we're a little short. I think our kids really compete and think that they're going to win every time they come to the ballpark. My coaching staff makes fun of me because like almost every day, I'm like, no, I think we're going to smoke them today. That's just my demeanor and hopefully rubs off on our kids. It's just more fun to live your life that way.

"And I do believe in our group. Tennessee is a great team. You win your division in this league, you are legit. It's probably good for our kids that we played them three times and beat them once. I think we lost in extra innings. We lost a one-run game. It feels like a long time ago. I know our kids will come out swinging. They won't back down. Tremendous respect for what Tony [Vitello] has done with that team. I think they play like they're the SEC East champs. They really believe in themselves, and I really respect the aura that they play with.

"They're going to get our best punch, and I know we'll get theirs. Should be a fun day."