Rebel seniors aiming for more in final season

Christian Cusimano is unable to hide the excitement on his face when talking about the baseball season that began in recent days.

“I can’t wait,” he said. “It’s one of those things you’ve been waiting for since you started playing the game. Your senior year in high school, just being able to compete and play in this community.”

The Vestavia Hills High School shortstop is entering his final year with the Rebels, and after what his team accomplished a season ago, that anticipation is warranted.

“Last year, we were nationally ranked, and we had all the hype around us, and we were winning all those games,” said the University of Louisiana at Lafayette signee. The Rebels put together an impressive 28-4 regular season record and drew attention from around the country.

“Of all the teams I’ve ever played on, that was one of the most successful and winningest teams I’ve been a part of,” he said. “When you were a part of that team, there was just something about every time you step on that field, you’re ready to compete, and you’re ready to go, so it was definitely something special.”

Cusimano was one of the Rebels’ offensive leaders in 2016 and will be counted on to provide the same production and stability in the middle of the batting order and the infield again in 2017. 

Another big factor in Vestavia’s success under first-year coach Jamie Harris last spring was the pitching staff, led by now-Alabama player Sonny Potter and Ole Miss signee Caden Lemons.

Potter drew many headlines, and rightly so, but Lemons put together a dominant campaign on the rubber last year as well, including a no-hitter against Spain Park in an area contest.

Lemons said he felt he was capable of having a breakout year. For him, the mindset precedes the action.

“You have to think that way to get there,” Lemons said. “I’m going to try to put it together this year, too.”

Over the past few seasons, Lemons said he has improved the most with his pitch command and his velocity. Those things work hand in hand for a pitcher of his ilk. A hurler who throws 100 miles per hour is no good if he cannot get the ball over the plate.

“Throwing strikes, working ahead and keeping my pitch count low,” Lemons said of his goals this season.

While last season was a great run for the Rebels, the first round playoff exit still stings, as the top-ranked team was defeated by Oak Mountain in the rubber game of that series. Both players used the word “finish” when asked about the lasting impact of that series.

“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Cusimano said. “It sounds cliché, but it’s so true. We really are taking pride in doing everything right, and we’re going to finish everything that we do. Don’t take anything for granted.”

Both Cusimano and Lemons already have signed to play baseball at the next level, and each with programs that have expectations of competing nationally. Louisiana and Ole Miss each won 43 games in 2016.

“I felt like it was home there,” Lemons said of Ole Miss. “I felt a good connection with the coaches and felt like I had a place. They were the first school to recruit me and have me on a visit.”

Of Louisiana, Cusimano said, “When I went down there, I felt like it was home, even though I was six-and-a-half hours away. The more people I met and the more people I talked to, it was unbelievable … That’s been my dream since I was a kid, to play Division 1 baseball.”