LIVE OAK — The brutal schedule — the eighth toughest in the state — was compiled for a reason.
Knowing that South Walton and its pair of aces in Coleman Borthwick and Denton Lord was waiting in the Region 1-3A playoffs, Suwannee coach Billy Moran wanted to test the Bulldogs early and often in preparation.
That meant the his son, Jace Moran, and the rest of the Bulldogs faced off against a who’s who of talented arms all spring from Trinity Christian’s Ethan Wheeler and Tyler Ellis, a pair of Florida commits; to Episcopal’s Jack Franklin, who is headed to Miami; to Bishop Snyder’s Cody Boshell, who is pledged to Tennessee; and Buchholz’s Reed Thomas, who is signed with Florida Gulf Coast.
“I try to schedule high-level arms, I try to schedule elite coaches,” Moran said of his scheduling philosophy. “In Jace’s case he enjoys the competition, he enjoys the fact that he’s competing against a college-level arm.
“We knew what in our region we had South Walton, who had at least two elite-level arms…We took every single arm we saw throughout the season as preparation for that.”
Jace, Suwannee’s star catcher who is committed to Florida, not only enjoyed that level of competition but excelled against it. In leading the Bulldogs back to the regional finals against South Walton, Moran hit a team-high .365 with four home runs, 11 doubles and 26 RBIs (all team bests). He also scored a team-leading 23 runs on his team-high 38 hits and posted a .465 on-base percentage and a .625 slugging percentage that also was the Bulldogs’ best.
It all adds up to make Moran the Lake City Reporter’s Baseball Player of the Year.
That production also was a by-product of Billy Moran’s desire to challenge his team week in and week out throughout the season.
“I feel like the better competition makes the whole team lock in, knowing that we’re playing against them and knowing they have to play against us,” Jace Moran said. “It makes that bar way higher for ourselves and for them.”
Moran had already set the bar high for himself through his first two seasons of high school baseball. An All-Area selection each of his first two years, Moran had already hit at least .304 or better each of his first two seasons with some power (three combined home runs to go along with three triples and 16 doubles), a knack for driving in runs (40), scoring them (51) and getting on base (a .439 or better on-base percentage those first two years as well).
But there was still work to be done. After striking out 22 times as a freshman, Moran cut that to 16 a year ago while watching his walks increase from 14 to 27.
Still, years of following his dad’s tutelage, Moran wanted to be even more competitive at the plate.
“I just drive home the fact that every time you step into the box, you’re competing against the pitcher,” Billy Moran said. “Put the ball in play and good things are going to happen. We’re not striking out because striking out just means that the pitcher is better than you and we’re not going to allow anyone to be better than us. That’s the kind of mentality we have.”
It’s certainly the mentality that Jace Moran possesses in the box. So heading into his junior season, he set a goal to have 10 or fewer strikeouts.
He ended up with 15. Not as good as he wanted but that’s the result of setting a lofty goal, he said.
“I love to compete up there,” Moran said, noting that if he set the goal too easy he wouldn’t be pleased with reaching it anyway. “So I really strive for 5-10 and if I get above that, it’s still not a bad season.
“I love to compete up there and have myself a challenge.”
The schedule provided plenty of chances for him to be challenged.
Facing Ellis, his future college teammate in the season opener, Moran doubled, scored and drove in a run in a 4-2 loss to Trinity Christian. Two months later against Wheeler, another future college teammate, Moran and the Bulldogs were even better. In a 13-3 run-rule win against the Crusaders, Moran homered and doubled among three hits as he drove in five runs.
He also got a hit against Thomas in one of the two outings the Bulldogs had against the Buchholz star,and although Suwannee lost to Bishop Snyder in late February, Moran took Boshell deep as well as doubling.
“I love to compete,” he said. “I love to compete. That’s why I loved this year so much more than our freshmen and sophomore years was the competition. I loved the competition.”
It helped too that Moran, always a fierce competitor, has matured in the box with more experience. In previous years, Billy Moran said his left-handed swinging son would have a tendency to chase, particularly if he was behind in the count. This year, he was more willing to be patient and make pitchers come back into the zone to him.
“We really pounded it in that guys are going to be willing to walk you, you can’t be willing to swing at bad pitches,” Billy Moran said.
Moran agreed that he was better at laying off pitcher’s pitches, even if they were strikes, to wait for a mistake that he could do damage with, even late in counts.
That growth and maturity and the tests throughout the season paid off for Moran and the Bulldogs, who excelled in the postseason on the way to the regional final rematch with South Walton. Throughout the district tournament and the first two rounds of the region playoffs, where Suwannee went 5-1, Moran went 8 for 15 with seven runs.
Still, Moran may have been at his very best in the first weeks of the season. That is when Suwannee traveled to Lake City to face rival Columbia. Locked in a scoreless tie in the fourth, the Bulldogs had a runner on second with two outs when Moran came up to bat. Billy Moran and his coaches were sure that the Tigers were going to pitch around Moran and take their chances with Easton O’Quinn.
Instead Nolan Slaymaker challenged Moran, who hammered a two-run home run to put Suwannee ahead in what would become a 6-0 win. The very next inning, Moran came up again with a runner in scoring position and two outs and again delivered, doubling in another run to help put the game away.
“A high-pressure, high-stress scenario with the game on the line if you will,” Billy Moran said. “He lives for that. He lives for that pressure situation.
“He understands that sometimes those situations go your way and some times they don’t. But I think there’s always excitement and competitive edge and not fear of the result.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
P: Kyler Keen
Columbia, junior
Went a perfect 7-0 and had an area-best 1.76 ERA amongst starters while recording 55 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings.
P: Kyler Watson
Suwannee, junior
Went a perfect 8-0 with the most wins in the area while posting a 2.74 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 38 1/3 innings.
C: Jace Moran
Suwannee, junior
The LCR’s Player of the Year led the Region 1-3A finalist Bulldogs with a .365 batting average, four home runs, 26 RBIs, 11 doubles and 23 runs scored. The Florida commit also hit two triples, stole seven bases, had a .465 on-base percentage and had a .994 fielding percentage behind the plate.
1B: Grayson Greene
Suwannee, junior
Hit .288 and had a .431 on-base percentage with 11 RBIs, six doubles and 15 runs scored. Didn’t make a single error in the field between first base and the mound, where he pitched 43 1/3 innings and had an area-best 85 strikeouts while going 6-6 with a 3.23 ERA.
2B: Madden Mann
Columbia, sophomore
Led the 16-11 Tigers in several offensive categories to help them return to the playoffs, including a .333 batting average, a .490 on-base percentage, 30 runs, 19 stolen bases, seven doubles and three triples. Finished the year with two home runs and 18 RBIs while posting a .928 fielding percentage.
SS: Trevor Byrd
Lafayette, junior
Helped the 16-12 Hornets reach the Region 3-R finals with an area-most five home runs, an area-most 34 runs scored and a team-high 14 stolen bases while batting .337 with a .430 on-base percentage, 22 RBIs and four doubles.
3B: Easton O’Quinn
Suwannee, freshman
Led the Bulldogs with a .504 on-base percentage and 12 stolen bases while batting .333 with two home runs, 21 RBIs, eight doubles and 20 runs. Posted a .970 fielding percentage.
OF: Colton Rogers
Suwannee, junior
Didn’t make a single error in the field while batting .321 with a .436 on-base percentage, 19 RBIs, eight doubles, a triple and 16 runs scored. Also posted a 3.75 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 37 1/3 innings on the mound.
OF: Kagan Hewett
Lafayette, senior
Led the area with 31 RBIs while batting .359 with a .458 on-base percentage, four doubles, three triples, 21 runs scored and 10 stolen bases.
OF: E’nalee Perry
Branford, senior
Led the area with a .508 batting average and .614 on-base percentage while finishing the year with a home run, 24 RBIs, 19 runs scored, eight doubles, two triples and eight stolen bases.
DH: Jackson Skinner
Branford, senior
The Santa Fe College signee batted .439 and had a .512 on-base percentage with three home runs, 20 RBIs, four doubles and a triple. Didn’t make a single error playing catcher and pitcher while posting a 2.76 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 33 innings on the mound.
UTIL: Garrett Taylor
Lafayette, senior
Led the Hornets with a .409 batting average, a .491 on-base percentage and eight doubles while also hitting three home runs with 30 RBIs, scoring 20 runs and stealing eight bases. Posted a 2.98 ERA with 71 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings on the mound.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Billy Moran, Suwannee
Led the Bulldogs to 19-14 record, back-to-back district titles and a second straight trip to the regional finals. They overcame a 7-10 start to the season with a strong finish that saw them win 9 of 10 entering the playoffs, which included a 4-2 win over Baldwin in the District 3-3A championship. Suwannee run-ruled West Nassau 12-1 in the Region 1-3A quarterfinals and then took down Fernandina Beach in Game 3 of the regional semis before eventual state champion South Walton ended its season with a sweep in the regional finals.