Alabama head baseball coach Brad Bohannon

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama baseball’s 2018 season ended Saturday in a 10-8 loss to No. 4 Ole Miss. The defeat dropped the Crimson Tide’s overall record to 27-29 (8-22 SEC).

In the first year of Brad Bohannon’s tenure as head coach, Alabama saw its wins increase by eight, including three more in conference play from last season’s 19-34-1 (5-24-1) mark. It’s a subtle improvement, but one the pleases UA athletic director Greg Byrne.

“Brad’s been super,” Byrne told BamaOnLine. “He is everything I thought he would be and more. Really have enjoyed working with him. The guys on the team are playing extremely for each other, for the team, for our program, and it’s a good, healthy environment. He’s laying the foundation with the team now and the job they’re doing with recruiting for future success.

“We just want to make sure we’re being patient with the team and showing the support, which our crowds have been very good but very bullish in the long-term health of Alabama baseball.”

Following the season-ending, Bohannon and junior infielder Cobie Vance provided their initial thoughts on the 2018 campaign while looking to the future of the baseball program.

Head coach Brad Bohannon

“It went fast. Gosh, I’m not ready to do a season recap or anything like that. It will certainly take time to reflect on every area and try to continuously improve. But it’s said. I’ve said all along we’ve got great kids, I love our kids and they tried really, really hard. They worked hard and gave us everything they had, and that’s all you can ask for. I’m excited to start working for the future, but I hate that some of these kids aren’t going to be back next year, just with graduation and the draft and that type of stuff.”

Alabama INF Cobie Vance

On the now-departing seniors...

“We had six seniors that we honored (Friday). We have great kids, but especially that older group, they provided a ton of leadership. And one of the strengths of this team was a lot of experience we had. We had a lot of SEC at-bats, and Jake Walters had been a weekend starter for three years. We’ll miss all of those guys and all of that experience. We’ll miss it dearly. I think any coach of any sport in this league will tell you you’re good when you’re older, you’re good experienced. And we’ll miss all those at-bats and innings next year.”

On what this first year meant to him...

“What I just told the team is I hope I’m the coach here for 25 years. This will always be my first team. This is the third time I’ve been new at a school in this league, and it’s by far the best group of people that I’ve had to be able to start with. So yeah, it went fast and I really appreciate their effort. These kids never gave up. They gave us everything they had from Day 1 and they welcomed us from Day 1. Those are great qualities for them to take the rest of their lives, and it’s something I’ll never forget.”

Junior third baseman Cobie Vance

“It obviously had its ups and downs. This staff has come in and from Day 1 it felt like family. It felt like the (Mitch) Gaspard era, and I’m thankful for that. We worked really hard. And myself, personally, it was one of my best years. We made improvement. As the season progressed, we started off well and kind of hit a midseason funk, and from the halfway point on, we gradually grew closer and we started playing cleaner baseball and stuff. Obviously, there were games that one big play, one big hit could’ve been made or hit, but I think it was a fun one. It was the most fun season I’ve had.”

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On the transition from last year to this year...

“From Day 1 it was organic, it was real. You could tell that everyone was pulling the same way from Day 1. It’s kind of tough to say, I think wins and losses don’t show it, but we never laid down. That was one thing that I felt like last year kind happened. We’d get down and the vibe of the dugout would be to hit the panic button and kind of worry if we could come back. This year, I never really worried about making a comeback, even in the games that were kind of out of hand. I thought we could put consecutive at-bats together and maybe get something going. That’s one strength we had, and hopefully that can carry over into next season with what is coming back and with what’s going to be coming in. I think that kind of mindset will translate really well.”

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).