Editor’s note: This is a regular feature profiling senior athletes at Bryant High School.
NAME: Hunter Alford
DATE OF BIRTH: Oct. 9, 1991
PARENTS: Libby and Scott Alford
SIBLINGS: I’ve got an older sister. Her name is Kristen. She’s 21.
FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: History
WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? I like to just spend time with my friends and just hunt and fish mostly.
FAVORITE FOOD: Chicken
FAVORITE MUSIC ARTIST OR GROUP: My favorite kind of music is Country. It’d probably somebody like Hank Williams Jr., some older country.[more]
FAVORITE MOVIE: American Gangster.
FAVORITE TV SHOW: Baseball Tonight
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A KID? I had this really, really, really small glove I got at WalMart. I just carried it around everywhere I went.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL? I’m going to go to college. I’m going to major in history and be a history teacher and, hopefully, be a high school baseball coach. I’m going to start out at Pulaski Tech. I’m just going to go there for a year then I’m going to be at Arkansas Tech for the next three.
OTHER THAN YOUR PARENTS, WHO HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR LIFE? My grandpa. He’s been more like a parent to me. He’s just driven me to do everything I’ve ever done. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here as I am right now.
FAVORITE THING ABOUT BASEBALL: It’s just the competitiveness. It’s just the chills you get stepping out on the field and focusing up. I don’t really know how to explain it, most likely it’s the competitiveness and just playing as a team.
POSITION: Student assistant coach.
WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE IS YOUR PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY ON THE FIELD? My job on the team is just to help people out. I teach a lot of the younger guys so they’ll know the system when they get older. Coach (Kirk) Bock can have the varsity guys down here, I’ll be up there with the B team guys and the JV team, going over the system and teaching them so they’ll be sure to know it whenever they get to 11th and 12th grade and playing varsity.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE SEASON SO FAR? We started out very, very, very good. I was very pleased with the way we started but we just hit this spot when we got back from Florida where we just stopped playing as a team. I think we had some people playing for themselves. We started struggling, couldn’t hit the ball. Our defense was there but we just couldn’t hit the ball. We had a lot of talks and stuff and started playing as a team. I think we’re back on track right now. We had a meeting and we picked someone that would always have our back on the field. And they switched jerseys with them. I think they made them realize that it’s not about them, it’s about the whole team. It’s not just about playing as a team, it’s playing for your brothers because everybody that’s on the team is your brothers. And you’ve got to play for them and not yourself.
WHAT'S BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT TO THE SEASON SO FAR? To this point, probably when we went down to Florida. We played some nationally ranked teams and we competed very, very well. Even though we lost against Niceville. They were No. 9 in the United States of America. We still competed very, very well with them. I think when we went down to Florida, that helped us out.
WHAT'S IT GOING TO TAKE FOR THE TEAM TO BE SUCCESSFUL THE REST OF THE SEASON? Got to come together, got to come together as one, just play as a team and just compete hard; leave everything you’ve got out there on the field. That’s it. Got to just stay focused up.
TALK ABOUT YOUR INJURY, WHAT HAPPENED AND WHEN? During practice, I caught a groundball. It took a bad hop and it hit my hand. It tore every single ligament that was in my hand and it ruptured three tendons. I had to go in and replace them. I think I came back too soon. I can’t even straighten my hand out or anything so I’m pretty sure I’m about to have surgery again. It’s been a tough year. It hurts me every single time. It’s hard to show it but, deep down inside, I know I should be out there and it just hurts that I can’t do anything to help the team out.
AFTER YOU'RE THROUGH BEING INVOLVED IN BASEBALL AT BHS, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'LL REMEMBER MOST FONDLY ABOUT IT? Just the stuff that Coach Bock’s taught me. I’ve learned so much, not just being an assistant coach but being a player for Coach Bock. I played for him last year and he just taught me so much. Looking back and it’s like, wow, he did do this program a lot of good.
