Carlton Guyse (left) and Jordan Guyse (right) pose with head baseball coach William Booth after the state championship win on May 18. Carlton and Jordan both played for Booth and won championships.

Joy Harris

Hartselle Enquirer

Carlton and Jordan Guyse have spent countless hours of this year thinking about Hartselle baseball games, practices, wins, losses, strategies and injuries. Carlton and Jordan are also the first father-son duo to win 5A baseball state championships at Hartselle.

Carlton was center fielder on the 1990 team that brought Hartselle its first state championship in baseball. He was a part of Head Coach William Booth’s first state championship win, and now his son also got to be a part of Coach Booth’s eighth win. Jordan played left field on this year’s title team.

Carlton has been coaching Jordan and many other current Hartselle baseball players since they were 5 years old. He coached them each summer in the high school’s off-season, watching them grow and progress as a team.

“I knew these boys were definitely capable of taking state,” Carlton said. “They should have last year when they made it to the fourth round of playoffs, so we really had high hopes for this year. They had the most depth of any team in the program since at least 1987.”

Jordan’s father was both excited and sad over his son’s last season of high school baseball.

“I knew this year would close out an important phase in Jordan’s life, but I also hoped this would be the year they won it all, so I had mixed emotions starting the season,” Carlton said.

Of the 14 seniors on the team this year, all 14 are going to college, 11 on academic or athletic scholarships. The overall senior GPA was 3.82, displaying the discipline from the parents, coaches and players. Many of the seniors were also on the state championship football team.

Jordan had mixed emotions on the conclusion of his baseball career.

“It was painful to turn in my uniforms, but ending with a state title made it bearable,” Jordan said. “I got to play on a team that became family to me. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to share this with.”

As a former player, Carlton could relate to his son’s success on multiple levels.

“I am excited for him because I’ve been through it, and I know what this means for him,” Carlton said. “I was also happy for the team as a coach, a dad and a friend.”

Several of Carlton’s teammates have sons who will soon come through the Hartselle Baseball program and hopefully go on to win more state championships, but Carlton and Jordan are proud to be Coach Booth’s first father and son state champs.

Jordan says Coach Booth is still the same as when his dad was playing, but Booth’s expectations have changed quite a bit.

“From day one we set our sights on a state title,” Jordan said. “We are expected to make it to playoffs, and if we don’t, it’s a real disappointment. When my dad was playing, playoffs were the goal, not the expectation.”

Jordan has wanted a state championship ring like his dad’s for quite a while, and now he has one.

“Dad can’t brag anymore,” said Jordan. “I have a ring that will hopefully be bigger than his now.”