Playing junior high baseball is a steppingstone from little league to high school ball. The field is bigger, the bases are wider and the mound is farther. The pitching gets better, the bats get bigger, the plays get tougher, and the coach is not dad. It’s a transition that separates the great from the good. 

Duran Junior High School has raised the bar this season. James “Coondog” Causey, alumni of Pell City High School, started his career in the Pell City School System in 2011, coaching that year’s seniors to a 29-0 season.

After a few years of barely breaking even, he has coached this year’s group of eighth graders to a 24-8 record, each loss being a close game, ending in a heartbreaker that could have gone either way. The Panthers have beaten Odenville, Moody, Springville, Southside, Sylacauga, Lincoln, Clay Chalkville, Thompson, and Hillcrest. Their only losses have been to Trussville, Pelham, and split with Homewood, Oxford, and Oak Mountain.

“This team is loaded with talent,” Causey said. “They have the pitching, they have the bats, and they can make plays. They’re tough to beat when things are going their way.”

Brett Staples, Mitchell Gossett, and Drew Wilson led the team on the mound with Alex Tate behind the plate. Blake Miller, Clayton Hildebrandt, Jackson Sweatt, John David Freeman, Staples, and Wilson led the team with heavy hitting sticks.

“This is just a group of eighth grade boys who will give you gray hair, try you every day, laugh at any given opportunity, but more importantly, love the game of baseball,” Causey said. “They are special. They have the talent to do something special. I hope once they get to varsity, I can sit back and say I told you so.”

The team defeated Thompson and was able to beat Trussville in their second meeting to make it through the playoffs last weekend. On April 18, they made it to their league championship game and won.

-Submitted by Melissa Craft