ALL-AREA BASEBALL: Blatt, Hightower take home Player, Coach of the Year honors

By Tom Peavy

Published: June 9, 2008

Opelika’s baseball team won an amazing 42 games in 2008.

While the unfortunate lasting memory for the Bulldogs were the two consecutive losses to Hoover in the Class 6A state championship series, nothing can take away the fact Opelika pulled off one of the best seasons in the history of high school baseball in Alabama.

And so it’s fitting that Opelika swept the annual postseason awards by the Opelika-Auburn News.

Head coach Barry Hightower is the Coach of the Year for the second year in a row, while Zach Blatt has been named Player of the Year.

“This was a special group to coach,” Hightower said. “Forty-two and four is an amazing run — the highest winning percentage ever by a team in Class 6A in Alabama.

“These guys went out every day, had fun and played with enthusiasm.”

Hightower had the fortune of leading an experienced, senior-laden team — something that undoubtedly made his job a little easier.

But the veteran coach was the one there to help keep the Bulldogs grounded as they ran out to a 28-0 start. He was the one to help rally the troops following a loss to Smiths Station, and then again after dropping Game 1 in the state playoffs against McGill-Toolen.

He was also the ever-present figurehead for the team as media from around Alabama and Georgia clamored to jump on the Opelika bandwagon.

“I was spoiled by the group I got to coach,” Hightower said. “It was a pleasure and an honor to coach them and an honor for the Opelika-Auburn News to recognize me with this award.”

As for the Bulldogs on the field, the Player of the Year award could have rightly gone to a number of Opelika’s players.

But Blatt stood out — on the mound, in the field and at the plate.

He consistently served as Opelika’s “ace” pitcher, starting the opener anytime the Bulldogs played more than one game in a day.

The Auburn University signee finished his senior year with a 12-2 record, and both could rightly have an asterisk by them — the first loss hurt by eight errors behind him and another coming when he tried to pitch through a sore arm.

He allowed only 17 earned runs all season for a 1.56 ERA and struck out 105 batters.

The numbers were strong enough for him to earn Class 6A Pitcher of the Year honors by the ASWA and a spot on the ASWA Super 10 team.

But that wasn’t where Blatt’s talents ended.

He hit .369 from the plate, with a team-best 48 RBI and was 85 percent fielding.

“It’s exciting to get this award and it’s something you always look forward to getting and working for around here,” Blatt said. “We didn’t get the big goal we were all shooting for as a team, but it’s still an honor to receive this award.”

Blatt then turned the focus on his teammates and the fact that no one elected to receive an individual honor at the team’s postseason banquet.

“We agreed not to have individual awards because it’s not an individual game,” Blatt said. “Everybody did something at different times.

“This is an award for the whole team because I wouldn’t have been here without the offensive support and defensive support — and Chase Dawson going 13-0 this year.”

Blatt now has his attention on heading to Auburn to continue his playing career.

“I’m looking forward to it and I’ll start at the end of (June) working out and getting in school,” Blatt said. “I’m looking forward to it because I’ve always wanted to be an Auburn Tiger since I was a little boy.

“I always told my dad, ‘I want to play on the field one day,’ and now I have that opportunity.”

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