BY NOAH GRIFFITH
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN —
Lee-Scott assistant baseball coach Jacob Ozment said all the Warriors needed was to see themselves win after starting 0-2. They have since done plenty of that.
Lee-Scott won 11 straight games leading up to spring break after dropping its first two to tough Georgia competition. The wins included two over Bessemer, who knocked the Warriors out of the playoffs in 2023, and an undefeated run to win the Edgewood Tournament.
Then they ran into Glenwood (17-2).
“So, obviously, winning 11 straight games takes guys coming together and rallying to win some games,” said senior third baseman Kade Hudson after a home loss to Glenwood. “When you go on a streak like that, it feels sometimes like you can’t lose, but eventually you’ll drop some games. But after a night like tonight, you just got to bounce back and try to win two more tomorrow.”
Lee-Scott’s spring break and its winning streak simultaneously came to a close when it hosted the rival Gators on Monday, March 13. Working around a three-run bomb in the first inning by sophomore Sam Jackson, Glenwood starter Jacob Page stayed on for the complete game and downed the Warriors 9-3.
Despite the loss to Glenwood, Ozment said he likes how things are coming together for his club after some confidence-boosting wins.
“One thing you’ll notice is they’re a little more self-aware of their approaches at the plate. Definitely tough to come back from spring break and get right into a Glenwood series, but we got two games in with Southern to hopefully get the rust off,” Ozment said after Monday’s game with Glenwood. “Our guys know what they have to continue to work on. Had a lot of flyouts tonight and a lot of strikeouts. Just being able to catch up to velocity and be more comfortable with that is probably the biggest thing for us.”
At the beginning of the season, Ozment bragged on his team’s cohesion and how his team is tight-knit. After seeing his team settle into individual roles and perform as a unit, he points to his group of seniors as the leaders vocally as well as the top statistical producers.
The leadership, as well as having “10 or more” strong arms to go to on the mound, is transforming a team with a losing record a year ago into a team who expects to show up and compete each time out under head coach Tim Hudson and his bolstered staff (www.opelikaobserver.com/lee-scott-baseball-ready-to-rebound-under-bolstered-staff/).
“I think our seniors are doing a good job of taking some ownership now of the team,” Ozment said. “They’re starting to establish standards that they feel coaches starting to put into place. I think one of the biggest things is making sure we’re setting attitudes the right way during games, picking each other up. It’s been cool watching that.”
Through 16 games, Hudson and his Warriors have already seen stiff competition, tough losses and big wins, but they are far from done. They have 27 more games remaining on the schedule, but being battle tested early on means plenty of time for the team to self-evaluate.
Lee-Scott is 11-5 going into a doubleheader at Autauga on Thursday.