New faces lead region success

Roster changes not hindering Lassiter, Milton, Mill Creek.

Lassiter won its ninth region baseball title this season, but this was the first championship team that didn’t have a Division I signee on the roster.

“We probably have some DI talent, but they’re not getting D-I looks,” said Lassiter coach Scott Kelly, whose team is 17-8 overall, 10-1 in Region 5-AAAAA. Lassiter plays at Etowah today before starting the state playoffs next week as a No. 1 seed.

Lassiter returned only three starters and graduated five college signees from the 2011 team that lost in the second round to Brookwood. The new rotation of underclassmen includes Caleb Coushey (5-2, 2.56 ERA), K. J. Sinclair (5-2, 3.38) and Tim Eber (3-1, 4.10). All are college prospects.

Lassiter is hitting .303 as a team. Senior third baseman Keegan Corley is hitting .450, and center fielder Jared Aarons is hitting .320 with a teamleading 25 RBIS. Matt Phillips (6-0, 1.50) and Roswell transfer Payton Smith (5-0, 0.82) are juniors.

“I personally thought we would be in the mix for the playoffs because we’d get hot late, and these sophomores would be turning into juniors by April,” Milton coach Joey Ray said. “They caught on earlier than that.”

Mill Creek ran away with Region 7-AAAAA last season with a team of 12 seniors, six who signed with college baseball teams. Only two starters returned, but the result was the same — another region title.

The two position players who returned — first baseman Nick Tillman (.330, four home runs) and third baseman Tim Hernandez (.303) — are the leaders of a team that is hitting only .260. No player other than Tillman has a home run.

Juniors Cody Pugh (7-1, 1.40 ERA) and Shane Seckinger (6-0, 1.18) have anchored the pitching staff.

Mill Creek (17-8, 12-5) has won seven one-run games, the most recent Monday (1-0) against Columbus, the No. 1-ranked team in Class AAA. The No. 3 starter, senior Kane Fraser (3-4, 3.85), went 6⅔ innings, and Mill Creek scored on Logan Moseley’s suicide squeeze in the sixth inning.