Nearly three months ago, Beau Amaral wasn’t sure if he had a future in baseball. He was back home in California in early May dealing with an 8-inch blood clot that had formed in his neck, his minor league baseball career now hanging in the balance.

Although the spotlight rarely shines on the offensive line, the position is as important as any in football.

After winning three state girls’ weightlifting championships in four years, there has been a virtual explosion of interest in the sport. “Each year there has been an increase in the popularity of the program,” Coach Garrett Bagley said. “For the past few years, we only had one weightlifting class. As interest grew, it became much too crowded. This past year, we worked with the administration and they agreed to offer an additional class this year. As a result, we have 114 girls in the program this year.”

Cyrus Grimes took a great deal of pressure off his shoulders earlier this summer when he announced he verbally committed to South Alabama to play baseball.