Notes, quotes and a thought or two…
We are officially to summer and I enter my 32 year of covering sports in East Central Mississippi.
One of my favorite projects is The Newton County Appeal’s Elite 11, something that I took over from Austin Bishop.
I get asked all the time how the Elite 11 is picked and it’s pretty simple. I ask coaches for nominations and I pick the team. I really mean for it to be selection of the best 11 football players in our coverage area. While I’m not at every game, I usually watch every video of every game. I make mental notes of who makes plays and who stands out. And of course, stats don’t lie. I always look at production because that’s what really matters. I also like multi-sport athletes because it shows versatility.
At any rate, we will start our coverage next week with our first player. I’m looking forward to it as our local teams prepare for another football season.
Stepping up
While not a local player, I find the story of Southern Mississippi pitcher Colby Allen to be an interesting one.
Allen played his high school baseball at Starkville Academy after transferring from Winston Academy.
Allen was primarily used as a catcher and pitcher at Starkville. But because of the roster at SA, he didn’t find himself on the mound as much as you would think.
The Southern Miss coaching staff saw something in Allen, mainly an underused arm with velocity in the lower to mid 90s. Allen pitched sparingly as a freshman last year but found his place this season when he became the team’s closer. Allen had his best moment as a Golden Eagle this past weekend when he won two games in the Sun Belt Conference tournament and got the save in the last game and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. He currently leads the team with nine wins and have seven saves.
Not bad for a guy who wasn’t considered the best pitcher on his high school team. Just goes to show you that hard work pays off.
And for those keeping score, Allen’s father is Todd Allen, who played baseball at Clarke College and East Central back in the day.
You never know
Speaking of you never know, take a look at Georgia’s Charlie Condon, who was recently named the SEC player of the year.
Condon led the nation with a .451 batting average and set a Georgia record with 35 home runs, second most in SEC single-season history.
Those numbers are certainly impressive. But get this, Conden had no Division I offers out of high school and was a walk-on at Georgia. In a few weeks, he will be a first-round draft pick.
How does a player go from a walk-on to a top draft pick and college baseball’s best hitter? I wished I knew the answer but it happens almost every year. It’s likely he was a victim of COVID when the pandemic ruined his senior season. Condon played travel ball as a kid but never with the top teams.
His father makes a fine point. Condon was a “late bloomer” and was one of the youngest in his class. As a coach, I can attest that this makes a ton of difference. Had Condon been held back and played his senior year as one of the oldest in his class a year later, the story might have been different. He just needed time to mature and grow into his frame. He basically had a red-shirt year at Georgia, grew and put on muscle and saw a lot of college pitching.
It just shows you never know how a story is going to end.
