By Erik Harris
PINSON – With the 2015 baseball season falling farther into the past, Pinson Valley head coach Shane Chappell says goodbye to departing seniors and looks at what will be returning next year.
Although Chappell says farewell to the first three bats in his 2015 order – Baker Hodge, Destin Davidson and Hunter Davidson – he’s optimistic about what could become of one particular underclassman.
Blake Sisson, who is coming off an impressive sophomore season, became a presence on the Indians’ varsity roster from the start. As a freshman in 2014, he found most of his playing time in the outfield and occasionally gave starting catcher Gage Farley a break from behind the plate.
One year later, there was nothing occasional about his visits to the catcher’s box. Sisson, after making vast improvements to his defensive game, became the go-to guy for Chappell’s pitchers this past year.
“(Sisson) has made so much improvements behind the plate, and that’s no disrespect to (Farley) or anything, but (Sisson) just really worked on his defensive game behind the plate,” said Chappell.
With two more seasons of development remaining at the high school level, Sisson could evolve into a team leader and much more.
“He’s one of those guys that’s going to be a special player,” said Chappell. “He led our team in hitting, average wise, as a sophomore.”
His quick release and live arm make him a prospect that might soon be entertaining college coaches from around the state. Chappell compared the upcoming junior to one of his departing seniors, Hunter Davidson, who was recently named a Class 6A second team All-State player by the Alabama High School Athletic Association.
That comparison is made in large part due to Sisson’s natural ability to embrace many roles on the team, like Davidson was known for doing. Davidson landed on the All-State team as a utility player.
“With what (Sisson) does at the plate, he’s kind of one of those guys that is a Hunter (Davidson)-type guy,” said Chappell. “He’s really good behind the plate, he can play outfield if we need that and he’s going to pitch more for us this year.”
Sisson only made one trip to the rubber last year, but it was a successful one. He was called upon to throw the spring break tournament championship game, and answered with five innings of work that helped Pinson Valley win the contest by a count of 3-1.
“He’s just a really good competitor and hard worker,” said Chappell. “I think with two more years of development, I think he’s got a chance to do some big things and have an opportunity to go on and play college baseball at a lot of different places.”