Alabama Baseball Hosts First Practice, Scrimmage Ahead of 2022 Season

After an hour-and-a-half practice, the Crimson Tide hosted a seven-inning scrimmage to open up spring practices.

Joey Blackwell | Jan 28, 2022

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Under blue skies spotted with puffy, white clouds, Alabama baseball conducted its first official practice and scrimmage ahead of the 2022 season on Friday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

After hosting a quick workout, some fielding drills and a short batting practice, the Crimson Tide hosted a seven-inning intrasquad scrimmage game.

“It was an exciting day for us,” Crimson Tide head coach Brad Bohannon said. “The kids did a great job over the break, came back in really good shape, and I could tell collectively that the group worked hard at home. This is a really pleasant group of guys to be around. They’re good kids, they practice well, they like to play, and they really like each other. I couldn’t be more pleased with where we are at right now, and I think three weeks from today we’ll be ready to play some really good baseball."

Alabama Baseball Scrimmage - 2022 — Joey Blackwell, BamaCentral

In the scrimmage between the Crimson and Gray teams, a total of six pitchers were utilized. For the Crimson team, junior left-handed pitcher Antoine Jean started out the mound and pitched two innings, followed by sophomore righty Eli Giles, who pitched another two innings. Redshirt-junior right-hander Landon Green closed things out for current Alabama pitchers on the Crimson Team with another two innings.

Casey Cobb, who graduated from the team in 2020, pitched the final inning of play for the Crimson team.

For the Gray team, senior right-hander Jacob McNairy started on the mound and finished with two innings under his belt. Junior southpaw Jake Leger pitched another two innings, and junior right-hander Garrett McMillan closed things out with three innings.

The scrimmage ended after seven innings in a 3-2 victory for the Gray team.

While there's still three weeks before Alabama opens its season against Xavier at the Joe, senior first baseman Drew Williamson said that having the team back together on the field brings a renewed sense of focus.

"It's great, man," Williamson said. "After being away from the guys for so long [for] Christmas break, you get so tired of doing everything on your own — going to the cage by yourself, working out by yourself — just that sense of community makes it so much easier to work hard and get out there."

Here are some videos from Friday's practice, as well as a full photo gallery:

The team has taken to the field. Let the field drills begin! #GVT pic.twitter.com/Mt50npdQrr
— Joey Blackwell (@_JoeyBlackwell) January 28, 2022

#Alabama C @dominic_tamez⁩ takes BP for the first time at #TheJoe. Tamez joins the Crimson Tide this season as a junior after spending 2020 at Arkansas and 2021 at McLennan Community College. pic.twitter.com/mv2Tg3hUf4
— Joey Blackwell (@_JoeyBlackwell) January 28, 2022

Published Jan 28, 2022

JOEY BLACKWELL

Joey Blackwell is an award-winning journalist and assistant editor for BamaCentral and has covered the Crimson Tide since 2018. He primarily covers Alabama football, men's basketball and baseball, but also covers a wide variety of other sports. Joey earned his bachelor's degree in History from Birmingham-Southern College in 2014 before graduating summa cum laude from the University of Alabama in 2020 with a degree in News Media. He has also been featured in a variety of college football magazines, including Lindy's Sports and BamaTime.