Highlands Christian One Step Away From A Return To The State Tournament

A team that is together can mean a lot of different things.

For some teams it means they know each other really well.

For others it may mean that they spend a lot of time together.

Or others may just really like one another.

For the Highlands Christian baseball team, being together means that they trust each other on the field.

“When on defense, or else hitting behind a baserunner, these guys have done it right all year,” said Knights coach Joe Shadowens. “These guys have been together a while and I have to hand it to them, they prove that chemistry counts.”

Highlands (15-10) will travel to face Miami Brito in a Class 1A regional championship Friday, with the winner earning a berth in the state tournament.

The game features a rematch of last season’s regional championship, which the Knights won handily 12-2 before they themselves fell 12-2 in the state semifinals to eventual state champion Trinity Christian Deltona.

Following that loss Highlands graduated six seniors, and a few other players transferred as well. Longtime coach Bruce Charlebois stepped down and former Westminster Academy coach Joe Shadowens took over. Around the halls the players heard whispers that they weren’t going to be as good this year, that there were no expectations. With only three starters returning and a new coach everyone seemed to accept that it would be a rebuilding year.

Everyone but the team, that is.

Players showed up early to practice and they did not waste their time. Everyone agreed that anything less then winning the district championship would be a disappointment. Players hit everyday and the results showed up on the scoreboards. Players were loose and confident, playing pressure-free and remembering that they had been in these situations before. Sometime they got over losses a little too easily, but they never got too high on themselves following a win either.

“We don’t feel any pressure. We’re still the team to beat in this region,” said Coach Shadowens. “They are playing how we want them to play; they feel like they can beat anybody. It doesn’t matter who we play, we are ready.”

The Knights vaunted offense is led by senior Jason Hepple, who brings a .583 batting average into the regional championship, along with a team-leading 14 home runs and 44 RBI. Meanwhile, his freshman brother Eric will take his 6-4 record on the mound on Friday.

Highlands is far from a one-trick pony though, with a lineup loaded with bats and the ability to break the game open with one big inning.

“It’s win or go home now, and I don’t want to go home,” said sophomore Carlton Cleare, who is fourth on the team with a .500 slugging percentage.

“Coach Shadowens has done a great job of keeping the tradition,” said former coach Charlebois. “He has them prepared and they are loose and confident.”

Highlands won seven of its final ten games while clinching its seventh district title along the way.

No one has celebrated anything yet though.

After the way this season has unfolded, players are hungry to run the gammit and win it all.

“Things work in strange ways,” said Coach Shadowens, who admitted he will not be returning next season regardless of their playoff outcome. “I’ve enjoyed this experience working with these kids and with Coach DeWitt. But the season is not over yet.”

The players are not ready for this season to end yet either. Junior Kevin Yambor can still remember what it felt like coming home after losing the 2009 regional championship at Miami Westminster Christian.

“That ride home from Miami was a long ride home,” said Yambor. “We’re not getting back on a bus again until we have the ‘W’.”

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