2025 Alabama Baseball Preview: Rob Vaughn feels 'more prepared' in Year 2

Year 2 of Rob Vaughn’s tenure as Alabama’s head baseball coach begins on Friday, February 14, with a 3-game home series against the Bradley Braves at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.

The Crimson Tide finished the 2024 season with a 33-24 record and seventh overall in the SEC in Vaughn’s first year and was picked to finish 13th in the new 16-team league in 2025 by the conference’s head coaches. The SEC remains the toughest baseball conference in America, but with one year under his belt, Vaughn has a better feel for season No. 2.

“You feel a lot more prepared in Year 2,” Vaughn said this week on Hey Coach. “It doesn’t mean you’re better, it doesn’t mean you’re worse. But you feel like you know what you’re looking for. I know where I feel like we’re ready right now. I feel like I know where I think we need to grow and make some strides. And these boys are working their tails off every day to do it.

“… The boys are ready. We’re healthy. The guys feel good. And now it’s time to go strap it up against somebody else.”

Before the opening day of Alabama baseball, BamaOnLine breaks down the 2025 team.

INFIELD

– Alabama has two healthy catchers, who both joined the program from SEC schools. Brady Neal was last at LSU before transferring to Alabama and will get the start behind the plate on Friday night. But the Tide will take a by-committee approach to the position with former Ole Miss catcher Will Plattner, who did not see playing time in his first season at UA.

– Alabama could also play multiple players at first base, a position Vaughn called a strength of the team. Will Hodo returns after starting 55 games and hitting .263 a year ago. Expected to bat third for the Tide, Hodo will be at first or a designated hitter. If he is the DH in the lineup, it means Miami transfer Jason Torres is at first base and right behind him in the four-hole.

“He’s been an animal this spring,” Vaughn said of Torres. “It’s been awesome. His preseason has been dynamite. … It’s a physical right-handed bat, bats the balls really good. Plate discipline is elite.”

– Brennen Norton (Jacksonville State) and Garrett Staton (Samford) are “kind of interchangeable” at second and third base. Norton will most likely open Alabama’s 2025 season at second base, with Staton at third, but they could regularly swap roles. Freshman Jon Young Jr. can also man either infield position. The true freshman will be tough to keep off the field.

“Just a fire hydrant,” Vaughn said of Norton. “Physical, electric bat speed. I mean, he hits balls as hard as any kid I’ve been around. And man, his demeanor is awesome. It’s an edge, but he also doesn’t grip it too tight.”

– Last but certainly not least in the UA infield is stellar shortstop Justin Lebron, who started 57 games in 2024 and hit .338 as a freshman. Lebron was a preseason first-team All-SEC honoree from the league coaches and was named to the Golden Spikes Award’s preseason watch list. In just his second year at Alabama, Lebron is assuming more of a leadership role.

“Justin is one of the best players in the country, there’s no question,” Vaughn said. “I think the big thing you want to see is how do they respond to success. And Justin’s hit every mark along this way. He’s been great this fall. He’s grown a lot.“

OUTFIELD

– In the outfield, Vaughn wanted to see Alabama “be more athletic” in his second season. Guys like TJ McCants, Ian Petrutz and Evan Sleight played well, both offensively and defensively, but the head coach was looking for more than just routine plays from his Tide outfielders.

“It’s actually taking runs off the board with your defense,” Vaughn said. “And I don’t know how much we did that last year, just in a lot of places, but we really wanted to upgrade that in the outfield, and I think we’ve done a great job.

“… I think there’s a little bit more dynamic playmaking in the outfield. Not that we were bad in the outfield, but I think this group has a chance to take a few more runs off the board out there, which is going to be huge in this league.”

– Alabama’s primary outfielders will be Kade Snell in left field, Richie Bonomolo Jr. in center and Bryce Fowler in right. Both Bonomolo (Wabash) and Fowler (Pearl River) join the Tide by way of junior colleges. Snell did too, just a year earlier, and the 36-game starter was named Alabama’s 2025 captain, meaning he will wear No. 3 in his fifth year at the college level.

Snell moved into a midweek starter role in the middle of last season, appearing in 10 games on the mound. He will strictly be a position player in 2025, but that experience gives him a unique perspective, Vaughn said, which is one of many reasons why he was chosen to lead.

“He’s been on the mound in an SEC game as an arm. He’s been in the box in an SEC game as a hitter,” Vaughn said. “And I think there’s an interesting perspective that comes from that. … He’s tough, he’s real, he’s authentic. I think he’s got a great perspective, and just felt like those boys would follow him. He’s done a great job so far.”

PITCHING

– Alabama announced its opening weekend starters on Wednesday. Up first on Friday night against Bradley will be LHP Zane Adams, followed by RHP Riley Quick on Saturday and RHP Bobby Alcock on Sunday. Adams started 13 games for the Tide a year ago and posted a 5.37 ERA with 47 strikeouts. Quick played in one game before suffering a season-ending injury. Less than a year removed, his fastball is touching 99, Vaughn said. Alcock also missed the Tide’s 2024 campaign due to injury, but he worked his way back into the mix.

– Vaughn knew Adams and Quick would start on Friday and Saturday, respectively, at the start of the week – and probably before – but Alcock wasn’t decided until later. Alabama has other options for the third starter spot as well as midweek arms who were mentioned, like RHP JT Blackwood (Wallace State), RHP Tyler Fay and LHP Beau Bryans (Jones College).

– Out of the bullpen, Vaughn touched on a trio of relief pitchers who he likes before the season begins, RHP Braylon Myers, RHP Coulson Buchanan (Wofford) and RHP Austin Morris. Myers appeared in 20 games last year and finished with a 2.73 ERA, 29 strikeouts and three saves. Meanwhile, Morris pitched in 14 contests with a 4.74 ERA and 21 strikeouts.

“Guys that know Braylon, he’s the best of the best,” Vaughn said. “Unbelievable kid, and he’s really starting to see some stuff tick up. I mean, it was 88 to 90 most of the time last year, maybe touching 91. He’s been sitting 92, 93, up to 94. You take his command and the stuff ticks up, man, that’s a leverage type guy.”

– To close games will be Penn transfer Carson Ozmer, a right-handed pitcher. The second-year coach said the grad transfer is “everything you want in just a human being on your team.”

“Turned down money in the draft to come to school here,” Vaughn said. “Would have gotten drafted and signed and said, ‘No, I’m going to Alabama.’ It’s maturity, it’s poise. It’ll be low 90s from the low-slot right side. Can run it up to the mid-90s over the top. So he’s probably the guy at the end of the game that we’re flipping the ball to, to go get the last three outs.”

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