By STEPHEN DAWKINS

Staff Writer

Spain Park High School baseball player Will Battersby has excelled against the state’s best competition.

Battersby and his Spain Park teammates regularly compete against the best teams and players in the state, but on July 19 Battersby took it a step further in the North-South game at the Alabama High School Athletic Association All-Star series at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery.

Battersby allowed no runs with one walk and one strikeout in two innings pitched, as four North pitchers combined for a one-hit shutout in a 2-0 win in the first game of the series.

“It’s a very big honor,” Battersby said about the chance to compete in the game. “It was sort of a new experience, but I’ve been to Troy for the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association [all-star event] and being from the area I’m in, we’re used to playing against good competition.

“I just wanted to go out there and be myself and prove I can get these guys out.”

The North won Game 2, 13-2.

“It was a great opportunity for [Battersby] to play with some of the best,” said Spain Park coach Will Smith, who was a coach for the North team.

Battersby, who has committed to play college baseball at UAB, is preparing for his senior season at Spain Park and hopes to add to his list of accomplishments.

So far in his varsity career, Battersby said striking out 13 Mountain Brook batters in his team’s first area game this past season is a highlight.

Smith, who has completed 13 years as Spain Park’s coach, said he has seen the left-handed, athletic Battersby make strides during his varsity career, and he will be counted on in his senior season to help the Jaguars finish close games that slipped away this past season.

“There were two or three games we lost where we had the lead in the fifth, sixth, seventh inning and couldn’t hold onto it,” Smith said. “We’ll need to be more consistent this year.”