Follow @PBRVirginiaDC
By John Nolan
Assistant Director of Scouting/Content Management 

As we enter February, the high school season is quickly approaching. As the month progresses and February turns into March, we will take a look at high school programs throughout our coverage area as they prepare for the 2016 season.

Team: Atlantic Shores Christian
Nickname: Seahawks
Class: VISAA Division II
Conference: Metro
Coach: Phillip Kojack
Twitter: @ShoresSeahawks
2015 Record: 22-5
2015 Post Season: Metro Conference Champions, State Semifinalist
Returning Starters/Position: 7
Returning Pitchers: 5
 

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Tyler Humphrey (3B, 2016, Hampden-Sydney) Humphrey is one of the Seahawks’ leaders this year and is a skilled defender at third to go with a good gap-to-gap bat.
JT Towles (P, 2016) Towles went 8-1 in 2015 with a 1.95 ERA.
Casey Turner (C/1B, 2016) Turner hit .504 in 2015 as a junior and hit four home runs while being named to the VISAA All-State Team.
Jon Sawyers (LHP/1B, 2018) Sawyers is fast and athletic and hit .405 while driving in 25 runs as a freshman in 2015.
Austin Stephens (UTL, 2017) Stephens is very versatile and hit .390 as a sophomore.
Braxton Zivic (2018) Zivic is another quick, athletic youngster and he hit .389 as a freshman. 

SEASON OUTLOOK
Atlantic Shores Christian is coming off of an outstanding 2015 season that saw the Seahawks go 10-0 on their way to capturing the Metro Conference Championship. The Seahawks reached the VISAA Semifinals before being eliminated by the Miller School and finished the year ranked No. 23 in the PBR Virginia/DC Power 25. The 2016 Seahawks will bring the majority of their lineup and defense back. The lineup will be one of the deeper ones in Division II with good hitters up and down it that will be anchored by Turner’s power in the middle. The rotation is deep but suffered the loss of ace Trey Celata (RHP, Hampden-Sydney) to graduation. Towles is coming off of a good season as the number two and is the early favorite to step into the role of ace, but the depth of the Seahawks’ rotation will be key for them as they will always have a good option to go to on the mound. The Seahawks picked up a pair of transfers in Niall Doherty (3B, 2017) and Jarred Kercher (2017) that will improve what is already a very talented and deep roster. Atlantic Shores Christian is the early favorite to repeat as Metro Conference champion and has a team that has the lineup and pitching depth to be very dangerous in the VISAA playoffs.