Rotary hears about baseball

(L-R): Rotary President Bob Ramey, Bat boy T Bentley, and YHC Coach Jeremy Boles.

It is certainly hard to imagine, but baseball is in full gear over at Young Harris College. Young Harris College baseball team's Assistant Coach Jeremy Boles spoke to the Union County Rotary Club on player development and the success of the Young Harris College Mountain Lions. There have been 18 players from Young Harris sign professional contracts and the college has produced two National Players of the Year, five All-Americans and six Academic All- Americans. Two stand outs of the current professional players are Nick Markakis and Billy Buckner. Nick was a first round pick by the Baltimore Orioles in 2003 and Billy is currently with the Kansas City Royals being drafted in the second round in 2004. Coach Boles also talked about the development of his current team roster and those players who have already gone to four year colleges with the potential to be drafted next year.

The Mountain Lions have had great success on the field. They have the distinction of winning more games (373) than any other Junior College in the state of Georgia over the last eight years. The team has averaged over 46 wins per year over the last eight years and 50 wins over the last four. This translates to a .771 and .810 winning percentage respectfully. The team finished the 2004 and 2005 seasons ranked No. 2 in the nation for Division 1 Junior College Baseball and finished the 2006 season ranked at number 8.

Academics is stressed at Young Harris College. The baseball players average SAT score has increased steadily to over 1050 for 2006. The team's GPC has increased as well to a 3.1 average. Continuing playing baseball is what these young men want to do. The program has sent 90 out of 91 sophomores to play at four year colleges. Development of coaches has also been a big part of the Young Harris baseball program. All former assistants have moved on to successful fouryear programs.

Coach Boles returns to Young Harris College for his third season as Assistant Coach. His responsibilities include coaching outfielders, base running, hitting, along with conditioning and speed training. After graduating from Forsyth Central High School, Coach Boles first came to Young Harris College in the fall of 2000 to play for Coach Rick Robinson. He played two seasons for the mountain Lions. Coach Boles held the Young Harris College record with 45 stolen bases during his sophomore year. Coach Boles went on to play for Liberty University where he led the Big South Conference in batting, hits, and runs scored. He finished his senior season ranked 31st in the nation in hitting. In the summer of 2006, Coach Boles coached in the Cape Cod league. His team was ranked the best summer team in the nation. They also had more players than any other team participate in the Cape Cod League All-Star game.

Coach Boles was introduced to the Rotary Club by Tsali "T" Bentley, II. T serves as Bat Boy for the Young Harris Mountains Lions and helps out the coaches by working the field. Rotary Club President Bob Ramay presented Coach Boles with a check made out to the Young Harris Diamond Club in support of continuing the development of such great young ball players.