Joey May is heading into his seventh year as head coach of the Bevill State Community College baseball team, and this year has a recruiting class coming in that will hopefully put them back on top of the Alabama Community College Conference.
?It is my opinion that the team that plays together always will come out on top. It?s not always the most talented team, it?s not always the best coached team, it is the team that plays as one unit, and a team that plays with heart,? May said. ?When we start applying this we will be hard to beat, and we will learn the values of teamwork.?
May?s team is young, but at the two-year college level that is the norm. A coach has to put together the best class of freshmen he can get his hands on. They cannot look at a player as a work in progress due to the lack of development time. This always presents a challenge. On the plus side, this year?s freshman class is loaded with some excellent talent.
?Blake Reynolds is going to be a good player for us at shortstop; he has good speed and should make an impact early. He has potential to play on the Division I level,? May said.
Another player May is hoping to impact the team right out of the gate is Dane Swearingen.
?Dane will be starting at second for us,? he said. ?His potential is endless to what he can accomplish. He will be an impact player, and a spark for us in our lineup.?
May is proud of his entire freshman class, many of which he believes have the potential to continue on to the next level in their baseball careers.
?All of the guys we signed are outstanding young men, and have the ability to make it as far as they are willing to go,? he said. ?They will all just have to work hard, and put forth the effort to get where they want to go.?
Even though this season Bevill State will rely on a lot of its freshmen, the returning sophomores are ready to lead the new guys and help them achieve their full potential.
?We have some great sophomore leaders coming back to help us, and we are looking to them to help these young guys adjust to this level of baseball,? May said. ?We are expecting big things out of them this season.?
Ryan Miller, Daniel Merchant, Michael Waller and Robert Duckworth are just some of the sophomores returning that had excellent seasons last year and are hoping to continue their excellent play.
Miller and Waller are two players that also offer a threat each time they step into the batters box. Both players hit over .300 last season.
Duckworth will be one of the starts returning to the mound for Bevill State, and will be looked to as a leader on the pitching staff after going 8-4 last season.
Also joining this group will be Nick Bohon, a transfer who should make an immediate impact for the Bears on the mound and on first base. He is also a threat every time he comes to the plate.
Bevill State played its first home double-header Friday against East Central (Miss.) Community College at Earl MacDonald Field on the Fayette Campus.
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Lauren Beason