By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor
As our votes for Shelby County Hitter of the Year and Pitcher of the Year showed, it’s pretty hard to get my colleagues and me to agree on much. Except for Coach of the Year, that is.
In a crowded field of three deserving candidates, including Thompson’s Frankie Perez and Briarwood Christian’s Chris Heaps, Spain Park’s Will Smith is now not only the Class 6A Coach of the Year, but the 2026 Shelby County Coach of the Year for baseball as well in a unanimous decision.
Smith’s Jags entered the season with plenty of offensive talent, including returning upperclassmen in Rhys Jones, Connor Greb, Evan Taylor and Joe Cross. Each of them more than held up their end of the bargain at the plate and in the field, resulting in four hitters going .349 or better at the plate. That quartet also each secured All-State First or Second Team honors.
The big question though was on the mound. Spain Park didn’t have an undisputed ace going into the season, and Smith admitted throughout the year that they would have to figure that spot out.
However, the rotation evolved over the course of the year from a question mark to a genuine strength. By the time the playoffs rolled around, the Jags had a pair of elite pitchers in Hudson Franks and Houston Holmes plus significant backup from Brody Smith.
Both Franks and Holmes eventually secured All-State honors, with Franks taking a Second Team spot with a .089 ERA and 1.12 WHIP with 42 strikeouts in 39.2 innings and Holmes earning an Honorable Mention with a 1.88 ERA and 1.25 WHIP with 47 strikeouts in 52 innings.
The pair were lights out down the stretch, although not more so than during the playoffs. Holmes had three-straight one-run starts against Benjamin Russell, Gulf Shores and Northridge, with both of the first two being unearned runs in wins. Franks kept it close in all five of his postseason starts, eventually going 3-2 with the highlight being a six-strikeout complete-game shutout against Northridge to seal the semifinal series win.