2010 State Championship

2010 GISA Class AA Baseball State Champions
Lynn Huffstickler
Head Coach

What a season! After making it to the State Championship game for two years and coming up short, we were hoping the third time would be the charm. It was!
This season was a total team effort from start to finish. Our parents and supporters helped throughout the season as gatekeepers, concession workers, photographers, and field decorators. Susan Ebersbach, Karen Jackson, Lori Alvarez, Darrell Bonner, B. J. Kimsey, and many others were instrumental in organizing our fan base to keep operations functioning smoothly. A big thank you goes to Mr. Guy Arnall who provided financial support to decorate the stands and surrounding area for the state playoffs. The season was well documented in pictures by Susan Ebersbach, Paula Vandersluis, and others. Our parents, both Middle School and Varsity, remained faithful throughout the year, providing taxi service for non-driving players, working concessions, attending games, and cheering on the players. The encouragement of our Hawks Nation, both on the field and off, spurred us to victory! Congratulations go to each member of the 2010 Hawks baseball team. Our seniors, Garrett Okun, Grant Alvarez, Jack Duffey, Evan Graybill, Seth Bonner, and Cody Yarbrough, provided the leadership to this championship team. Our underclassmen, Kyle Kimsey, Ben Dudley, Ryan Lynch, Reed Jackson, Joe Bonner, Richard Ebersbach, Candler Rich, J. J. Avery, Elliott Smith, Patrick McKee, and Dalton Trammell, worked as a team as they followed the leadership of the seniors. These 17 players were faithful and committed to their two season goals: to win the region championship and to win the state championship. They accomplished both.
Sports writers claim that defense wins championships, and that is certainly true with our team this year. Jack Duffey, Evan Graybill, and Kyle Kimsey’s pitching led our defense with the one, two, three punch which was feared by every opponent. Ben Dudley and Duffey commanded the action at first base. Joe Bonner, Reed Jackson, and Cody Yarbrough shared duty at second base. Kimsey was our Golden Glove at shortstop. Evan Graybill and Joe Bonner anchored third base. Our outfield, Seth Bonner, Candler Rich, and Garrett Okun, provided speed, agility, and accuracy. The best catcher in the GISA, Grant Alvarez, quarterbacked behind the plate. This defense kept us winning from the season opener to the state championship.
You cannot win games without scoring. This year’s team scored 332 runs in 30 games! We averaged 10.4 runs per game. We had 21 games with double digit scores. Garrett Okun and Kyle Kimsey, our lead-off and number two hitter, set the stage for our trio of power hitters, Grant Alvarez, Jack Duffey, and Evan Graybill. Candler Rich’s ability to hit the baseball usually resulted in driving in the power group. Seth Bonner, Joe Bonner, and Cody Yarbrough closed out the line-up by getting on base, advancing runners, and driving in runs. Their efforts created a line-up feared by pitchers throughout the state.
Our coaching staff deserves thanks for their time and commitment to the Hawks baseball program. Our coaches serve as grounds crew, teachers, trainers, and motivators.
Bobby Totten and Carl Brown worked throughout the season with the Varsity team while Jeff Avery assisted with the JV and Reese Barnett with the Middle School team. All four of these coaches worked with the Varsity team during the playoffs. Their support was instrumental in helping the team achieve its goals.
When I came to Heritage in the fall of 2001, the baseball program, despite enthusiastic support, had had limited success. They had never celebrated a winning season. During the past eight years, we had seven winning seasons. We won our region championship in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010. We have had state playoff appearances six times. We were second in the state in 2008 and 2009, and we all know what happened on May 29, 2010, at 5:08 p.m.!
As Stuart Crosby said, “The recipe for a championship team includes good pitching, defense, timely hitting, intelligent base-running, and fan support.”
We had all of these. The dedication of our players and their parents mixed with the commitment of our coaches and the noise of our fans produced this prize-winning season! “Third time is the charm!”

2010 AA State Champions

2010 AA State Champions
What a year.

2010 Trophy Presentation

2010 Trophy Presentation
Total team effort!

2010 State Champioship

2010 State Champioship
Let the fun begin.

2010 State Championship

2010 State Championship
Hawks of yesterday!

2010 Heritage Hawks in Black

2010 Heritage Hawks in Black

2010 Heritage Hawks

2010 Heritage Hawks

Opening Weekend 2010

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Hawks Newsletter April 25, 2010

HERITAGE HAWKS BASEBALL NEWS 4/25/10

Close game with a much improved Flint River team. Everyone gets in game against Furtah.
Heritage 4 Flint River 1
Heritage 15 Furtah 4

We are looking for an announcer for some of the games when Jeff Stuart will be absent. Let me know.

Game Reports can be found on the Blog.

HOME GAMES ARE BEING PUSHED BACK TO 4:30 GAME TIME SINCE THE TIME CHANGE!!!!

We will be selling Middle School and Varsity hats (LIKE THE PLAYERS WEAR) in the concession stand at home games. $10.00. We have a few last year’s style for $5.00.

Medical Report:
No injuries.

Schedule for the Week
Monday Open
Tuesday Varsity @ Home vs. Harvester 4:30PM
Wednesday Open
Thursday V @ Christian Heritage 5:00PM
Friday V @ Home vs.Arlington 3PM Game One Game Two to follow Game 1
Saturday Open
Monday V @ Home vs. Griffin Christian 4:30PM

DIRECTIONS TO GAMES WILL BE ON OUR SCHOOL’S WEB SITE.
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Sunday, April 18, 2010

Hawks Newsletter April 18, 2010

HERITAGE HAWKS BASEBALL NEWS 4/18/10

Slow Start @ Griffin – Wild and Crazy Finish. Everyone contributed @ LaGrange.
Heritage 16 Griffin Christian 2
Heritage 14 LaGrange 2

We are looking for an announcer for some of the games when Jeff Stuart will be absent. Let me know.

Game Reports can be found on the Blog.

HOME GAMES ARE BEING PUSHED BACK TO 4:30 GAME TIME SINCE THE TIME CHANGE!!!!


We will be selling Middle School and Varsity hats (LIKE THE PLAYERS WEAR) in the concession stand at home games. $10.00. We have a few last year’s style for $5.00.

Medical Report:
No injuries.

Schedule for the Week
Monday Open
Tuesday Varsity @ Home vs. Flint River 4:30PM
Wednesday MS @ Home vs.LaGrange 4:30PM
Thursday MS @ Arlington 4:00PM
Friday V @ Home vs.Furtah 4:30PM
Saturday MS @ Home vs. Harvester

DIRECTIONS TO GAMES WILL BE ON OUR SCHOOL’S WEB SITE.
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Sunday, April 11, 2010

Newsletter April 11, 2010

HERITAGE HAWKS BASEBALL NEWS 4/11/10

Spring Break is over. It is crunch time. Every game is important!

Game Reports can be found on the Blog.

HOME GAMES ARE BEING PUSHED BACK TO 4:30 GAME TIME SINCE THE TIME CHANGE!!!!


We will be selling Middle School and Varsity hats (LIKE THE PLAYERS WEAR) in the concession stand at home games. $10.00. We have a few last year’s style for $5.00.


Medical Report:

No injuries.

Schedule for the Week
Monday Open
Tuesday Varsity @ Griffin Christian 5:00PM
Wednesday MS @ Arlington 4:00PM
Thursday MS @ Harvester 3:00PM Game played at Fairplay Rec Field
Friday V @ LaGrange 4:00PM
Saturday MS Three Way Heritage vs. Strong Rock 10AM
@ Heritage Strong Rock vs. Flint River 12Noon
Heritage vs. Flint River 2PM

DIRECTIONS TO GAMES WILL BE ON OUR SCHOOL’S WEB SITE.
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