FAYETTEVILLE — The younger players on the Fayetteville baseball team often receive a lot of hype.
While the Bulldogs have leaned on the underclassmen in compiling an 18-2 mark, seniors Brett Price and Carson Shaddy have shown the upperclassmen still have a big hand in the team’s success.
Price, a 6-foot-3 pitcher/outfielder, and Shaddy, a 5-9, 170-pound catcher/infielder/outfielder, have developed into two of Fayetteville’s biggest bats in the lineup. And with Price adding his work as a starting pitcher, and Shaddy taking over at catcher this season, the Bulldogs’ duo have become key in more ways than one.
Profile
Carson Shaddy
SCHOOL: Fayetteville
CLASS: Senior
POSITION: Catcher/Infielder/Outfielder
NOTABLE: Hitting .393 BA with two home runs and 14 RBIs. ... Took over the starting catcher duties for Fayetteville this season. ... Older brother, Taylor, played on three state championship teams at Fayetteville from 2006 to 2008.
“Carson is a three-year starter, and Brett pitched a lot for us last year,” Fayetteville coach Vance Arnold said. “The big surprise is Brett’s bat. He’s done a great job at the plate this year, and Carson can do so many things playing catcher, infielder or in the outfield.
“So those two guys have really set the tone for the rest of the seniors and the other guys as well.”
Shaddy, whose older brother Taylor Shaddy was a part of three state titles at Fayetteville from 2006 to 2008, never had doubts as to how good the Bulldogs could be this spring. But he and Price have made sure the younger players didn’t allow the winning ways to go to their head.
“As a senior you want to have your best year,” Shaddy said. “To come out here and do what we’ve done is real exciting. “As a team we didn’t want to come in and just think we were going to be good. We wanted to work hard and be ready for it. So now that we’re doing it we’ve gone big plans for the next month.”
Price, who is hitting .393 with 16 RBIs as Fayetteville’s primary cleanup hitter, is also 3-0 on the mound with a 2.14 earned run average. That includes a complete-game shutout in his most recent outing, a 4-0 win against Springdale High.
“I came up as a pitcher and pitching is what I enjoy,” Price said. “But I’ve also really been enjoying myself at the plate and having a good senior season.”
Profile
Brett Price
SCHOOL: Fayetteville
CLASS: Senior
POSITION: Pitcher/Outfielder
NOTABLE: Hitting .393 with 16 RBIs and 17 runs scored. ... Pitched on the varsity level as a junior and is 3-0 this season with a 2.13 earned run average. ... Threw a complete game, two-hit shutout in a 4-0 win against Springdale High
Like Price, Shaddy is also hitting .393, as both seniors are an identical 24-for-61 in official at-bats this year. Shaddy also has two home runs and 14 RBIs.
“These are the guys that have been on the overnight trips and they’ve been around the coaches and know what we expect,” Arnold said. “And these two guys are a couple of kids I can talk to and let them know if somebody else is dragging or not working as hard. “So they kind of take the leadership role off the field. And then on the field they’ve been huge, with the way they hit and hit in pressure situations.”
Fellow seniors Austin Allen, Logan Hiatt and Will Price — Brett Price’s brother — have been just as important to Fayetteville’s near-perfect start. And while the younger Bulldogs sometimes get the attention, the play of two leaders like Price and Shaddy isn’t forgotten inside the program.
“The underclassmen on this team, they do carry a lot of the weight,” Shaddy said. “In my experience the seniors are the ones who carry and lead the team, but this team is so diverse.
“So mainly what we do as seniors is keep all of them in line. We take care of them, show them how to work in the weight room and just set a good example. And so far it’s worked out.”