By TIM GAYLE

Days after his team won the 3A baseball championship, Trinity coach Jarrod Cook thought about the journey to the championship, starting with a win over Andalusia in the season opener back in February.

“We go out there and strike out 10 times,” Cook recalled. “We came back and found a way to win 3-2. I think we were 6-0 at one point in the season and had close to 40 strikeouts as a team. I’m sitting here, scratching my head, wondering how we were 6-0. But I think it was seven seniors who just trusted the process.”

The Wildcats were hard to figure out, even in the championship series against Piedmont. At times, they looked unbeatable. Other times, they struggled to run bases correctly, field popups or do things that most teams would consider routine.

“I think they thrived off adversity, for whatever reason,” Cook said. “Maybe it was because we talked about it a lot. After we lost game one (to Piedmont), I had a peace, an assurance -- not that we were going to win two games, obviously -- but that our guys were going to handle it the right way. And they felt that way.”

One of those seniors was catcher Grayson Ashe, who led the Wildcats in batting average (.458), RBIs (40), doubles (17), triples (4) and walks (23) while striking out just five times this season.

“He’s that kid that I think every coach would dream of, to have on their ballclub,” Cook said during the Wildcats’ playoff run. “He comes to work every day prepared. He’s a blue-collar kid, works hard, is a leader for the right reasons and just loves the game. You’re talking about a guy who’s behind the plate every game, hits in the middle of our order and teams have to pitch around him at times when bases are open. He’s a tough out.”

Coaches agreed, selecting Ashe as the Capital City Conference player of the year.

“I just want to thank God for blessing me with the gift to be able to play this game,” Ashe said. “I want to thank coach (Jarrod) Cook, coach (Brad) Parker, coach (Ryan) Lombardi, coach (Josh) Forbus, coach sham (Jon Shamburger) for keeping me in check and teaching me the fundamentals of the game. I just want to thank my teammates. This is an awesome moment and I couldn’t have done it without the eight guys behind me.”

Ashe made the team for the third consecutive year, as did his teammate Ben Easterling. Alabama Christian’s Issac Warrick made the team for the second consecutive year and Catholic’s Justin Rose made his second appearance as well.

Cook was the obvious choice as Capital City Conference coach of the year after leading the Wildcats to a state championship in his first year as the head coach after serving for 11 years as Ken Whittle’s pitching coach.

It is his fourth title overall after winning three as a Trinity assistant.

“I think it started back in January when we did some mental toughness training,” Cook said. “It wasn’t anything overbearing, just the thought of setting our mindset on things that have nothing to do with a baseball skill, things that are going to bring us together, situations that are going to be tough and difficult.”

2022 CAPITAL CITY CONFERENCE BASEBALL TEAM

OF -- Caleb McCreary, So., Catholic

OF -- David Michael Lieux, Jr., Trinity

OF -- Clint Shores, Jr., Saint James

1B -- Ben Easterling, Sr., Trinity

2B -- Judson Lindsey, Sr., Montgomery Academy

SS -- Shaun Bridges, Sr., Saint James

3B -- Parker Cook, So., Montgomery Academy

C -- Grayson Ashe, Jr., Trinity

DH -- Foster Rasmussen, Sr., Saint James

Utility -- Fleming Hall, Fr., Trinity

P-- Isaac Warrick, Sr., Alabama Christian

P -- Alex Weiser, Sr., Catholic

P -- Coleman Stanley, Sr., Trinity

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Grayson Ashe, Trinity

COACH OF THE YEAR: Jarrod Cook, Trinity

Honorable mention: Ethan Beard, 2B, Jr., Saint James; Simmons Byrd, 2B, Sr., Trinity; Carter Carroll, 3B, So., Saint James; Preston Hicks, SS, Sr., ACA; Clint Houser, OF, So., Saint James; Hayes Hunt, 1B-P, Sr., ACA; Jordan Jenkins, 1B, Sr., Trinity; Mac McClinton, OF, Sr., Trinity; JT Moorer, P-OF, Sr., ACA; Justin Rose, OF, Jr., Catholic; Patrick Ryan, 1B-3B, Sr., Catholic; Trey Schlemmer, C, Sr., ACA; Thomas Stovall, OF, Sr., ACA; Cooper Wright, P, Jr., Saint James.

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