Parkview baseball coach Chan Brown talks about leading his Panthers to yet another state championship.
Q: Coach, what a great baseball tradition you guys have at Parkview – another great season last year with yet another state championship! That was the Panthers’ 3rd straight state title. Can you sum up a season that ended with the Class 7A State Championship?
A: Last year was a true testament to stay true to the process. We talk about the process a good bit at Parkview. The beginning of the season was not good at all for us. Our team did not take care of the little things and it was a total lack of focus. At the point of the season we were 11-10 and the players decided that it was time to refocus on the process that Parkview baseball is based on.
At that point we won the next 19 games in a row to win the 7A State Championship. I think the feeling that night was a sense of great accomplishment from where we started. But more than anything, I feel like the players matured into young men over the course of the season. I feel like the adversity they went through will help them later in life. The little white ball we call a baseball can teach so many life skills. As I watched the team dog pile at Truist Park, I watched with a sense of pride knowing these kids found a way to carry on the tradition of Parkview baseball.
Q: Coach, following the pandemic season, fans were ready for baseball to return, and it showed. The state title series win over North Paulding drew a record crowd at Truist Park. How good did it feel to play in front of so many fans?
A: What an awesome atmosphere it was for everyone involved. When you have close to 8,000 people watching a high school state championship, it does not get any better than that. North Paulding was a very good team and we were fortunate to come away with 2 wins that night to win our 9th state championship. It was an awesome experience.
Q: Coach, anytime you win a state title, there are a lot of heroes. Ryan Spikes was a big leader for your guys. Can you talk about the other seniors who left Parkview baseball as a state champion?
A: Ryan Spikes had an unbelievable run through the 5 weeks of the playoffs. Ryan put us on his back and said, “Let’s go.” Ryan was very good at the plate and on the mound as our closer to lead us to the state championship. Cade Sadler really had an awesome year for us also. Ryan and Cade were the catalysts of our team.
Colin Houck was a another player who really stepped up for us last year. Overall, our pitching, defense, and timely hitting were very good the last 19 games of the year. We had a lot of players who really stepped up those last 19 games. The biggest leader we had was our catcher, Bryson Stripling. Without Bryson, we do not win the state championship.
Q: Let me ask about the guys who returned this season. Do you have a lot of returners from last season’s team? Who are they?
A: We have 14 kids who are coming back from last year’s state championship team, but we will be very young. We have a lot of very talented players coming back who will need to grow up and gain experience for us to have a shot to win the 4th state championship in a row. So far this year our youth has not grown up and we have lost some games early due to that. We are working very hard to get everyone back on track of trusting the process that has helped us win the last 3 state championships. Only time will tell if that happens!
