ACA's Davis Dare, Eric Hines lead baseball team to state tournament after basketball success
Just a little over two months ago, the American Christian Academy boys basketball team was competing for a Class 4A state championship.
The Patriots ultimately fell short to Jackson, 56-43, but still had arguably the best season in school history. They were the first ACA basketball team to appear in the state championship game, all under interim head coach Austin Grammer, who stepped in a few weeks into the season for head coach Blake Thrasher amid his cancer diagnosis.
Amongst that ACA basketball team was senior point guard Davis Dare and junior forward Eric Hines. Dare finished the season as the leading scorer with 21.4 points per game and was a First-Team All-State selection. Hines, a Second-Team All-State selection, was the team's second leading scorer and leading rebounder, with 12 points and 12 rebounds per game.
The day after the ACA basketball team lost in the state championship, Hines and Dare took the field — not the court — for ACA, joining the baseball team after having to miss the first few games due to basketball season. The Patriots won their game vs. Chelsea that day 4-1.
Both three-sport athletes at ACA, playing football, basketball and baseball, the transition between the sports was nothing new for Dare and Hines. Baseball, Hines said, is his main sport, playing year-round for the East Coast Sox. For Dare, he said either football or basketball, having recently signed his national letter of intent to play football at Millsaps College.
"(The transition) it wasn't hard at all; I was ready to come back" Hines said. "I came out the next day, ready to play. We got the team win; I was glad I got to comeback with my team."
The Patriots baseball team finished the regular season 18-14 and have gone 8-1 across the first four rounds of playoffs. They opened the postseason with a 2-1 series win over No. 6 Orange Beach (1-6, 7-3, 7-0) before sweeping Satsuma in the second round (9-0, 3-0), Oak Grove in the third (5-1, 14-0) and Bibb County (2-1, 4-0), the No. 1 team in 4A in the semifinals.
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Now, the Patriots face Corner in the 4A state championship series. Game one is scheduled for Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Choccolocco Park in Oxford. Game two is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Thursday with game three, if necessary, set for 7 p.m. that same day. Thursday's games will be played at Jacksonville State University.
The Patriots are searching for the sixth state title in program history, and the first since 2011. Head coach Del Howell was a part of three of those state champion teams at ACA (2004-06) as a player but is searching for his first state title as a coach.
Howell, who is in his sixth season at the helm of the ACA program, has had successful teams in the past, with each of his teams having made it to the playoffs, with the exception of the canceled 2020 season. His team this season, he said, stands out in how they play — not just for themselves, but for each other.
"We got good leadership ... Play for the guy next to you, they have really taken that on this year," Howell said. "I've had really good teams here, they could be better than this team, but this team has really taken the identify of playing for something more than themselves. It's fun to be a part of."
For Dare and Hines, they are once again leading their team to another possible state title this year, now on the field, not the court, using their past experience to help them this time around.
"(That past experience) shows what it takes to be a team to make it this far and what it takes to basically keep winning in the playoffs," Dare said. "You can't take any days lightly, you come out to practice. You got to do the same thing, its repetition, and taking no games lightly ... We just got to keep playing for each other."
Hines currently leads the ACA offense, batting .466 with 54 hits in 116 at bats, tallying in 25 RBIs and eight home runs.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: ACA's Davis Dare, Eric Hines translate success from court onto diamond
