Alabama Baseball Hosts First Spring Practice
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Alabama baseball team laced up its cleats for the first time this spring and hosted its first team practice Friday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
The team, under third-year head coach Brad Bohannon, finished the 2019 season with a 30-26 record but went a disappointing 7-23 in the highly-competitive SEC. The Crimson Tide hasn't made an SEC Tournament appearance since 2016.
“It was a really good first day,” Bohannon said. “The spirit of this team is really good. These kids really like to play, they’re very serious about being good at baseball, they really like each other, and we’re as healthy as we’ve been. We’re at a really, really good starting point, and I think after a couple more weekends playing against each other, we’ll be ready to play some really good baseball.”
Alabama brings a ton of new blood to the team this season, fielding 13 freshman on its current 36-player roster. The Crimson Tide also return several key players, including senior catcher/utility player Brett Auerbach, senior shortstop Kolby Robinson, sophomore outfielder T.J. Reeves and junior outfielder Tyler Gentry.
Redshirt-sophomore catcher Sam Praytor is also returning after experiencing a season-ending arm injury in just the Crimson Tide's fifth game of last season against Ball State. Praytor participated in the next game as a pinch-hitter but was out for the rest of the season due to the injury.
As far as returning pitchers, key returners are sophomore right-hander Tyler Ras, senior righty Casey Cobb, sophomore right-hander Chase Lee and sophomore righty Connor Shamblin.
Alabama opens its season on Feb. 14 against Northeastern in Tuscaloosa.
Check out the photo gallery of the Crimson Tide's first practice below, as well as videos from head coach Brad Bohannon, Reeves and Ras.
