By Gary Curreri
Joe Shadowens, left, talks with catcher and captain, Jason Hepple. Shadowens succeeded Bruce Charlebois at Highlands Christian Academy this year as its baseball coach and is hoping to lead the Knights deep into the postseason.
Joe Shadowens is used to filling “big shoes.”
Shadowens succeeded Bruce Charlebois at Highlands Christian Academy this year as its baseball coach and is hoping to lead the Knights deep into the postseason.
Shadowens spent the past two years at Westminster Academy where he succeeded another high profile coach — Rich Hofman. Before moving to Florida, Shadowens did the same at a high school in Georgia. He is also an associate baseball scout in the summer and fall with the Atlanta Braves – a position he’s held since 2002.
“Baseball is baseball no matter where you go,” Shadowens said. “Traditions change and the athletes change, but Highlands has a great tradition just like Westminster does.”
“The biggest attraction at Highlands was the winning tradition and a lot of good baseball,” said the 51-year-old Shadowens. “We wanted to continue the winning tradition. We didn’t want to come here and say we were going to start the tradition because they were already winning.”
Currently, the Knights are 8-5 after a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over visiting Sagemont last Friday as Weston Clemente tossed a complete game.
“While we don’t have the blazing record right now, we have played some tough teams and, hopefully, we are learning from that and that will help us out at the end,” Shadowens said. “We played in the Florida Christian tournament and played in Ocala against some good teams.”
He said the team spent the fall and early part of the season working on its rotation and it seems to be paying off. The team has struggled a little defensively and is still finding the right pieces in its outfield rotation.
“We have been a little erratic,” Shadowens said. “We hit the ball the way I thought we would.”
One of the team’s leaders and senior captain, Jason Hepple, said he hopes the team will come together for a postseason run. The team reached the final four in 2008 and in 2010, but came up short of winning a state championship.
Hepple, 18, a catcher, has been at the school for 10 years and played for three different coaches.
“It’s been very different,” Hepple said. “It is not the same with any of the coaches. I would like to get a little more chemistry with the team going in to districts. We have had our downfalls, but we are coming back.”
He said he likes being counted on.
“I like the leadership role,” said Hepple, whose younger brother, Eric, is also a key member of the team. “I have been waiting for it ever since I was younger. I was always looking up to the older kids and now I am finally the older kid.”
“For 27 years, I was a teacher, and I am a teacher of the game,” Shadowens concluded. “When you are refining a guy to go in a different direction because you are working on the mental approach, or the technical approach … I really enjoy players who are thirsty and want to get better. I am out of the classroom now, but this is my classroom. I just love it. It is like giving your kids a Christmas gift. You get more pleasure out of seeing them happy. I get pleasure out of seeing guys successful.”
Highlands Christian Academy’s Kirvin Moesquit slides safely under the tag of Sagemont’s Elliot Leal at third base. The Knights rallied for a 4-3 victory. Photo by Gary Curreri
