BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
Autauga County School Superintendent Lyman Woodfin had the pleasure of announcing two new hires to a standing room only crowd Wednesday for the school board meeting. Not only is Prattville alumni and Coach JR Myers coming back home as the head Varsity Baseball Coach, he is joined by his educator wife, Elisha, and their three children.
“It is a big day for Autauga County Schools,” Supt. Woodfin said. “I want to announce two hires. We are very fortunate to bring in two dynamic educators here tonight. Elisha Myers will be our career coach. She will work with a lot of our students across the district. She comes very highly recommended from Russellville schools. We are very excited about what she will do here to help our kids get on the right track with their careers.”
Woodfin then introduced Coach Myers.
PHS Principal Daniel Farris said, “We believe Coach Myers has what it takes to develop young men into good citizens while preparing them for their futures and building championship level teams at Prattville High School.”
Farris thanked the search committee for their hard work with the process in making the hire.
“We had stakeholders on this committee that know Prattville High School, the community and the history of Prattville Baseball,” Farris said. “I want to thank Athletic Director Rob Mitchell for his hard work during this time to find the head coach that is the best fit for us. I also want to thank Mike Jones as he has been the acting coach over the past six weeks and for the direction he has taken our baseball program.”
Farris offered a bit of history surrounding Coach Myers.
2006 Prattville High School graduate JR Myers was an excellent baseball player throughout high school. After graduation, he continued building on those skills utilizing a scholarship for North Florida Community College. He has gained a wealth of knowledge, life experience and coaching experience over the years.
“After his senior year, JR signed a baseball scholarship to play at North Florida Community College,” Farris said. “There, he was Panhandle All-Conference in what can be considered one of the toughest junior college conferences in the county. He batted .310 in his freshman year and .370 with seven homeruns and 16 stolen bases his sophomore year.”
Farris said that JR played for two years in North Florida, then signed a baseball scholarship to Troy University under Hall of Fame Coach Bobby Pierce. JR finished his junior season with a .326 batting average while only committing one error in 103 chances in the field.
“His final season at Troy was indeed his most memorable season,” Farris said. “JR finished the season with a .338 batting average and despite hitting only three homeruns that season, his last homerun came in the semifinals of the Sunbelt Conference against Arkansas State down by one run in the top of the 9th.”
The homerun tied the game in which the Trojans would go on to win and advance to the Sunbelt Championship game.
In 2010, JR’s coaching career began back at Prattville High. After four years as an assistant coach at Prattville, he accepted an assistant coach job at Flornce High in 2015, Farris said.
“During his first season, he was able to coach first round draft pick Braxton Garrett, who is the #2 starter for the Miami Marlins,” he said.
Following that year, as an assistant coach, Myers was able to coach Evan Taylor, a draftee of the Miami Marlins out of the University of Arkansas.
In 2019, Coach Myers accepted the head coaching job at Florence High School.
After the 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Myers led his team to the semifinals the following year, going 29-11. He would then go on to be named 7A Area 8 All-Area Coach of the Year.
“As both assistant and head coach, Coach Myers has had the privilege of coaching four current professional baseball players as well as 12 current collegiate athletes.”
Coach Myers spoke to the crowd saying, “I am happy to be back and ready to get started. I am kind of behind the eight ball right now, so I am ready to get going. I am excited about the season.”
Following the introduction, Coach Myers met with the players and their families. He then spoke with Will Barrett about his hopes for PHS Baseball moving forward. You can watch the video by Prattville Alive here – https://www.facebook.com/prattvillealive/videos/1702264446960952
