Russellville baseball looks to continue winning tradition
The Russellville Golden Tigers are looking to continue their long history of baseball success during the 2024 varsity season.
RHS advanced to the third round of the 5A playoffs a year ago and the Golden Tigers are off to a winning start this season under second-year head coach Jess Smith.
“I think the potential for this group is through the roof,” Smith said recently. “We’ve got a mix of some returners from last season, and we’ve also got a mix of some young guys with really, really bright futures. I think we’re not even a fraction of becoming the team that we could be. We still kinda go back and forth with playing clean baseball and playing mistake baseball, and a lot of that is self-induced. For this team to reach its full potential, we have to grow up in a sense of becoming the best version of ourselves. I think if this group will take on that personality and persona, the sky’s the limit. We’re just doing everything we can as a staff to push them to become that version of themselves.”
Russellville has a group of seniors on this year’s squad that bring experience to the diamond. “Most of those guys are returning starters from last season and our entire infield is full of returning starters. Brandt Cummings and Cayden Johns are both guys that are going to play at the next level at Northwest Shoals and I think certainly Daniel Askew and Michael Scofield are putting themselves in position to earn that opportunity,” Smith said. In the outfield, Brodie Vandiver, KJ Murray and Devin Green all have experience and bring versatility on defense, at the plate and on the bases.
Russellville is a part of Class 5A Area 14 with Lawrence County, Jasper and West Point. In upcoming action, RHS will play against Sparkman and Piedmont in Arab March 29 before playing at Arab March 30. The Golden Tigers will host James Clemens April 2; travel to Haleyville April 4; host Pinson Valley and Shades Valley April 6; travel to West Point April 9; host West Point April 11; and travel to Scottsboro April 13.
