It isn’t hard for Ayden Phillips to pick his favorite memory from his junior season at Columbia.
Tasked with pitching against IMG Academy’s national squad on the road late in the season, Phillips rose to the challenge and delivered one of the biggest wins in program history. In seven innings on the mound, he held the top-ranked team in the state scoreless while giving up only two hits as he waited for his offense to deliver.
Teammate Bynton Edge finally did with an RBI single in the eighth inning as the Tigers pulled off the upset with a 1-0 victory, becoming the first Florida public school to beat IMG Academy since 2020.
“That was a game, that was a game,” Phillips said. “Our whole team was locked in. There wasn’t one guy that wasn’t right there. Even the guys on the bench were so locked in on the moment. It was a whole different team. It was so alive.”
Grant Bowers sealed the deal with a 1-2-3 eighth inning after Phillips had shut IMG Academy down through seven. Phillips struck out seven batters that night and only walked one, his best performance in a year where he delivered time and time again for Columbia not only on the mound but also at the plate.
His stats against the fifth toughest schedule in the state, according to the FHSAA rankings, were astounding in helping the Tigers reach the playoffs for a third straight season. Phillips was their top pitcher with a 0.71 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings while also putting together the best offensive season in the area with a .450 batting average, a .542 on-base percentage, 31 RBIs and six home runs to go with a team-high eight doubles, a triple, and a team-high 26 runs scored.
It should come as no surprise that Phillips is the LCR’s Baseball Player of the Year.
“Really the credit goes to, of course, coach (Chris) Howard,” Phillips said. “Coach Howard is a really good coach who put me in really good positions to do the things I did. And my teammates really helped me out. I wouldn’t have the RBIs and all the other things that I had if it wasn’t for them getting on base, so I’m really grateful for that. And I’m just grateful that I could get the swings off that I wanted this year and really do damage.”
Phillips was tasked with leading a younger squad this season after six starters graduated from the 2023 Final Four team. And while the year began a bit rocky, the Tigers won 9 of 12 games down the stretch to make the playoffs as a district runner-up and the No. 2 seed in Region 1-5A.
Howard has Phillips to thanks for that.
“We don’t win half the games without Ayden this year,” Howard said.
While Phillips was expected to be the team’s best hitter following a sophomore campaign where he hit .452, he unexpectedly became Columbia’s ace in the pitching rotation. After only throwing 12 innings last season, Phillips was asked this spring to be a member of the rotation as the Tigers tried to find a serviceable replacement for Josh Fernald.
Phillips proved to be more than that, increasing his velocity from the mid-80s to the high 80s to low 90s while also adding a changeup to his repertoire.
“I thought he would be one of our top three, but to his credit he got stronger,” Howard said. “He was a big surprise for us on the hill.”
Phillips says his changeup turned out to be his best pitch this season, often throwing off-speed to batters about “60%” of the time. His confidence with the changeup grew after working in the offseason with pitching coach Joey Edge, who stressed the importance of developing the pitch if he was going to be a mainstay in the rotation.
“I was struggling with a changeup all last year and Joey told me, ‘if you want to be good, you have to develop a changeup,’” Phillips said. “He really helped me through that and helped me develop a good working changeup.”
While Phillips surprised some with his pitching, there weren’t many surprises at the plate. While his numbers were similar to last season, his power numbers increased from two home runs to six this season.
He says the credit there actually goes back to football season and the regimen head coach Brian Allen and defensive coordinator Chris Martinez put him through in the weight room.
“His weight program is so good,” Phillips said of Allen. “My body transformed in like five to six weeks. It was amazing.
“That guy really pushed me in the weight room, and coach Martinez just as well.”
Howard thought Phillips would actually struggle a little at the plate this year, not because he’d regress but because of all the pieces Columbia was losing from the 2023 squad. There was a lot of uncertainty about who would surround Phillips in the lineup and the team’s lack of power outside of him.
Turns out, it didn’t matter.
“I thought he was a better all-around hitter,” Howard said. “He got pitched a lot harder this year. More people knew him. We didn’t have a ton of power around him, so he had to hit good pitches all year, and he did. I thought he would struggle this year to be honest with you at the plate, but he can just flat out hit.”
Following a strong finish to the regular season, Columbia had high expectations entering the playoffs with hopes of returning to the state Final Four for a third straight season. But the Tigers lost to Lincoln 2-0 in the District 2-5A championship, resulting in them receiving the No. 2 seed in the Region 1-5A playoffs.
That turned out to be a tough draw because they had to travel to 7-seed Beachside — a district champion — in the first round. Columbia ran into another stellar pitcher that night and was shut out 2-0 again to end its season with a 15-13 record.
“I hate the way it ended, but we had a good season,” Phillips said. “Beating IMG National was a really big and historical moment for us, and I think we accomplished big things.”
Phillip says the Tigers, who will return a majority of the roster next spring, will only be hungrier next season after the way the 2024 campaign ended.
“This team that’s coming back next year is going to be really good,” Phillips said. “I think we’re going to come back with a chip on our shoulder.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
P: Ayden Phillips
Columbia, junior
The LCR’s Player of the Year led the Tigers with a 0.71 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings. He was also the best offensive player in the area, leading with a .450 average, a .542 on-base percentage, 31 RBIs and six home runs to go with a team-high eight doubles, a triple, and a team-high 26 runs.
P: Hyatt Richardson
Lafayette, junior
Had an area-best 0.63 ERA and an area-most 110 strikeouts in 66 2/3 innings. Also led the Hornets offensively with 23 RBIs, two home runs and nine doubles while hitting .361 with a .455 on-base percentage.
C: Brayden Richardson
Lafayette, sophomore
Let the Hornets with a .370 average and a .531 on-base percentage, recording 20 RBIs and scoring nine runs. Posted a .981 fielding percentage behind the plate.
1B: Cadan Hall
Fort White, sophomore
Hit .321 and had a .433 on-base percentage, finishing the season with 17 RBIs, four doubles, a triple and 10 runs scored. Posted a .955 fielding percentage.
2B: Noah Lopez
Suwannee, sophomore
Scored the most runs in the area, crossing home plate 32 times while hitting .289 with a .427 on-base percentage, 12 RBIs, two doubles and nine stolen bases. Posted a .932 fielding percentage.
SS: Grant Bowers
Columbia, senior
Hit .330 and had a .410 on-base percentage with 17 RBIs, one home run, three doubles, two triples, 18 runs scored and seven stole bases. Had a .900 fielding percentage and was also solid as a pitcher, finishing with 57 strikeouts in 44 2/3 innings and a 2.51 ERA.
3B: Austin Humphries
Branford, senior
Led the Buccaneers with a .397 batting average, a .487 on-base percentage and 15 RBIs to go with three doubles, a triple, 13 runs scored and eight stolen bases. Posted a .929 fielding percentage.
OF: JT Cook
Lafayette, senior
Led the Hornets with 30 runs scored and 16 stolen bases to go with a .314 batting average, a .438 on-base percentage, 14 RBIs and three doubles. Posted an .885 fielding percentage.
OF: Hayden Adams
Fort White, senior
Had an area-best .595 on-base percentage while leading the Indians with 28 runs scored and 13 stolen bases to go with a .279 batting average, eight RBIs, two doubles and two triples. Posted a .944 fielding percentage.
OF: Max Schuler
Columbia, junior
Hit .281 and had a .410 on-base percentage with 14 RBIs, one home run, five doubles and 13 runs scored. Posted a .925 fielding percentage.
DH: Trayce McKenzie
Columbia, junior
Hit .349 and had a .380 on-base percentage with 14 RBIs, two home runs, a double, three triples, 19 runs scored and eight stolen bases.
UTIL: Jace Moran
Suwannee, freshman
Led the Bulldogs with a .304 average, a .439 on-base percentage, nine doubles and two home runs to go with 17 RBIs, 18 runs scored and eight stolen bases. Had a .924 fielding percentage.
UTIL: Garrett Taylor
Lafayette, sophomore
Hit .364 and had a .446 on-base percentage with 21 RBIs, three doubles, a home run, 21 runs scored and nine stolen bases. Posted a .951 fielding percentage and also contributed as a pitcher with a 2.75 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Tim Hanson, Lafayette
Led the Hornets to an area-best 23-3 record, another District 6-1A title, another Region 3-1A title and another appearance in the Class 1A state semifinals. It was Lafayette’s fourth Final Four appearance following a 1-0 win over Madison County and a 4-0 victory over Union County in regionals. The Hornets fell short of reaching a second straight state championship game, falling to Jay 4-2 in the state semis.
HONORABLE MENTION: Columbia: Bynton Edge; Suwannee: Grayson Bonds, Grayson Greene, PJ Davis, Logan Brooks; Lafayette: Noah Lamb, Trevor Byrd; Fort White: Kenton Haase, Patrick Kennedy, Garrett Depaola, Carson Capallia; Branford: Dawson Cannon, Tucker Floyd