Sports Editor Brothers Luke and Logan Hill are each other’s biggest fans.
So are brothers Noah and Reid Smith. They’ve all had plenty to cheer about this season.
When head coach Adam Skokowski turns in his lineup card for the opening game of today’s Class 5A regional vs. Santa Fe South (2-29) at 11 a.m. (weather permitting), a ‘Hill’ or ‘Smith’ could be in four of the nine starting slots, and with good reason.
The sibling duos have each carved out their own role for Piedmont’s baseball team this year while helping to make the top-seeded Wildcats a favorite to reach the state tournament for the fourth consecutive season.
Each of them has made an impact for a well-balanced PHS squad that has nine players batting .300 or better and a pitching staff that’s limited its opponent to two runs or less 20 times.”
They’re all doing a lot for us. All four are really good baseball players,” Skokowski said.
Noah is the Wildcats’ senior starting right fielder and is tied for second on the team in home runs. He’s also one of Piedmont’s top options out of the bullpen. His younger brother Reid is the team’s top designated hitter and backup catcher as a freshman.
Luke, also a freshman, is a smooth fielding starting shortstop who bats leadoff and carries a .400 average into the postseason. Hill has also developed into the team’s closer, replacing older brother Logan after an arm injury limited the senior second baseman to a hitting-only role.
Despite his injury, Logan, a Seminole State signee, has still found way to contribute. He delivered the game-winning single to lift Piedmont to a come-from-behind win over Carl Albert that clinched the 5A-1 District Championship. Luke earned the win in relief and was one of the first players out of the dugout to congratulate his big brother after his walk-off hit.
DISTRICT CHAMPS! pic.twitter.com/tBC4fWYPZ4
— Piedmont Athletics & Activities (@PiedmontAth) April 26, 2023
“I had full confidence in him right there, but at the same time I was thinking that if he doesn’t get a hit, I have to go back out there and pitch and keep the score tied,” Luke said.
The Hill brothers are baseball fanatics. When they aren’t playing, they’re watching a game or sharing tricks of the trade.
There’s also a competitive rivalry between them that encompasses just about everything they do. Not too long ago, some friendly roughhousing ended with one accidentally throwing the other through a bedroom wall.
“That was a long night,” said Logan.
The competition might be fiercest on the baseball field.
“Me. We’ve done it,” Luke said without hesitation when asked how their matchups go. “We had a practice over one of our breaks and we were doing live pitching, and he went 1-for-4 off me with a single and two strikeouts.”
Logan didn’t deny the results but did add a caveat.
“He got the best of me, but pitching’s easy. Let’s be honest,” he said.
Noah and Reid have their own brother-vs-brother battles, but like the Hills, they’re also soaking up the chance to play on the same team for the first and probably only time in their careers.
“It was a goal of mine to be able to play with him during his senior year,” Reid said. “It’s a once in a lifetime thing.”
During the peaks and valleys of a 34-game regular season, Noah and Reid have kept each other even-keeled.
“When something’s not going right, (Reid) has got some key things to say,” said Noah, who has signed to play at Cisco College in Texas. “I wouldn’t trade this opportunity for anything.”
The Hills and Smiths aren’t the only brother tandems in Piedmont’s program. There’s also Cole and Zane Pruitt, Cole and Cade Girard, Kyler and Brayden Johnson and Wyatt and Cameron Kirkendall.
“It’s something you don’t normally see, but it’s cool because the older ones get to pass down the traditions to the younger ones,” Skokowski said.
All 12 would like to celebrate Piedmont’s first state championship together later this month.
“To be able to share that memory with (Luke)…we’ll be telling our kids about that someday,” Logan Hill said. “I can’t put into words how awesome that would be.”
