Parrish, Lucky earn all-Capital City Conference honors in baseball

“Defensively, there’s not a better catcher among the CCC teams,” Lewis said. “You’re going to get a good at-bat out of him every time he goes out there. Defensively, he’s above average, blocking it. He’s got an arm injury that he gutted through the entire year but when it comes to controlling and commanding a game from behind the plate, I don’t think there’s anybody that did a better job of that.

“Then, you add in his offensive ability. With most teams, he’s probably a three-hole guy; with us, he’s our leadoff guy because we want to get him to the plate as many times as possible and he can change the game with one swing.”

Parrish -- and his teammates -- faded a little in the last two weeks of the season but he still managed to hit .390 this season along with seven home runs to help the team tie a team record for most wins in a season.

“He definitely grew a ton,” Lewis said. “He put on 20 pounds. He got much more disciplined at the plate. There was huge improvement. Nobody on our roster improved more from last year to this year.”

Capital City Conference coaches noticed, voting Parrish the CCC Player of the Year. Keith Lucky was voted the CCC Coach of the Year after guiding his up-and-down Trojans into the 3A semifinals before finishing with a 21-15 record.

“The way the season was a roller coaster ride all year long, at times I thought we were contenders and then there were other times I thought we just forgot how to play the game,” Lucky said. “A credit to our team is they started playing baseball a lot better when we got into the playoffs and we rode the wave as long as we could. They came together at the right time, won some key ballgames and getting into the semifinals for the first time since 2006 is a huge accomplishment.”

Lucky said 14 of his 18 players were part of the 2022 state championship football team and he thought that contributed to his team’s success in 2023.

“I wanted more but they went over and beyond pulling this team together at the last moment,” he said. “The reason we were able to do that is because we were a very athletic team and I think the success they had in football and basketball -- and in previous years in baseball -- kind of rolled over. We might have been outmanned on the mound or in certain places, maybe their pitcher was better than our hitters at certain times, but I think that’s what helped us out.”

Three of his players made the team, including Ethan Beard, who alternated between shortstop and second base this season and was a 2021 all-CCC selection and an honorable mention selection last season; first baseman KJ Jackson, a junior playing his last season of baseball; and center fielder Tabor Offord, a sophomore who is one of three center fielders on the all-CCC team.

Catholic center fielder Caleb McCreary was an all-CCC pick last season, as was Trinity center fielder D.M. Lieux. ACA shortstop Preston Hicks and pitcher-first baseman Hayes Hunt earned honorable mention selection last year and Parrish was an honorable mention selection in 2021.

ALL-CAPITAL CITY CONFERENCE

BASEBALL TEAM

1B -- KJ Jackson, Jr., Saint James

2B -- Ethan Beard, Sr., Saint James

SS -- Preston Hicks, Sr., Alabama Christian

3B -- Brady Rascoll, Jr., Trinity

C -- Hudson Parrish, Sr., Catholic

OF -- D.M. Lieux, Sr., Trinity

OF -- Tabor Offord, So., Saint James

OF -- Caleb McCreary, Jr., Catholic

P -- Walker McClinton, Jr., Trinity

P -- Alex Fleet, Sr., Catholic

P -- Hayes Hunt, Sr., Alabama Christian Academy

DH -- Rick McBride, Jr., Montgomery Academy

Util -- Will Hardin, Jr., Montgomery Academy

Player of the Year --- Hudson Parrish, Catholic

Coach of the Year ---- Keith Lucky, Saint James

Honorable mention: Brady Bennett, OF, So., Trinity; Carter Carroll, P-3B-SS, Jr., Saint James; Oscar Fiore, P, So., Montgomery Academy; Fleming Hall, DH-1B, So., Trinity; Clint Houser, OF, Jr., Saint James; Landon Nelson, P-OF-2B, Jr., Alabama Christian Academy; Josh Palmer, OF-P, Sr., Catholic; Ross Sanders, C, Jr., Trinity; Clint Shores, OF-P, Sr. Saint James; Wesley Stallings, OF-P, Sr., Trinity.