re: Bama Baseball | (32-26)

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“I love the feel of our club right now,” Bohannon said Friday.

“I think last year, we had a group where they were like, ‘Hey, we’re trying to prove to the whole world that we’re good.’ And not that this group thinks that they’ve arrived, but we’ve only got two juniors and two seniors on our team. We’ve got 19 freshmen technically, because all these guys that have only been here for a year and a half, they’ve lost one game at Alabama. We don’t have a bunch of guys that have been here that have lost many games.

“So, I don’t have to pump these guys’ tires. They really believe in themselves.”

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The Crimson Tide returns 21 letterwinners from last year’s team, including six starting position players and 10 pitchers. The 2021 roster also features 13 newcomers. In addition to a mixture of experience and talent, Bohannon said he simply enjoys being around his new team.

“This is one of the more enjoyable groups that I’ve been around,” Bohannon said. “I just like all their personalities. We have a bunch of kids who, No. 1, they’re good kids, they’re cool kids. We’ve got a lot of talent. They really practice well. We all love our time together.

“And maybe they say something different when I’m not around, but I walk in the team room or the locker room and I just hang out with them. We all really, really enjoy our time together, so regardless of how the season goes, this is gonna be a really enjoyable and rewarding few months.”

Redshirt sophomore catcher Sam Praytor added, “I feel really good about our team this year, man. I’m really excited to get going. It’s just like Coach Bo said, this team is really excited about coming to the ballpark every day. He’s completely right. We have a great time together.

“When we’re at the field, everybody wants to be at the field, everybody wants to get better, everybody loves practicing. Obviously, we do feel like we have a lot to prove and everything, but at the same time, we don’t have to prove it to ourselves. We know we’re there, and we feel really good about this upcoming season.”

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