Six Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) baseball players signed to continue their baseball careers on Wednesday./PHOTO BY CODY DALTON, CATAWBA VALLEY ATHLETICS
HobbsDailyReport.com
HICKORY – Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) sent six of its baseball players on to play at four-year schools on Wednesday’s National Signing Day.
This year’s signees bring the Red Hawks’ total of signings by baseball players to 92 in the 10-year history of the program.
“That’s what our program is built off of,” CVCC head baseball coach Paul Rozzelle said in a CVCC press release. “We’ve known that from the beginning.
“Dr. (Garrett) Hinshaw — our president — has made that very clear. Our job is to graduate players and have them sign. That’s what we base our success off of.
“Do we want to win a national championship? One hundred percent, but if we win a national championship and no one signs, we haven’t done our part. For us, watching these guys kind of be able to sign during the early period here is nice for our program and for them.
“They can settle in, relax and know that they have a home. They can focus on this season with us and finish up academically.”
Pitcher Logan Bender is the second Red Hawks player to sign with a “Power Five” school, inking his letter-of-intent with N.C. State. Former pitcher Julian Smith, drafted and signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers also signed with the Wolfpack last spring.
Red Hawks shortstop Garrison Burress and pitchers Trae Starnes and Chase Covington each signed with Charlotte.
Rozzelle said the signings are the culmination of a working relationship between he, CVCC pitching coach Kris Harvey and Charlotte assistant baseball coach Shohn Doty.
“The process of getting these guys signed didn’t start this year,” Rozzelle said. “Coach Doty saw Chase Covington throw three years ago and said ‘Wow, I like that kid. If he figures it out, I like him.’
“These things haven’t come out of nowhere. Coach Doty and (UNC Charlotte’s) staff have done a great job. When they felt the time was right with the needs that they had, our players kind of matched and filled those voids. It worked out really good.”
Also signing Wednesday were pitchers Timothy Davila and Myles White both with North Carolina A&T.
Rozzelle said having teammates go on to be teammates at the next level will be beneficial for his Red Hawk players down the road.
“Even with JuCO, you are walking in and have some eyes on you because you’re expected to produce at any level — whether it’s NAIA or NCAA Division III, II or I,” Rozzelle said. “Being a JuCO guy, you have got some experience.
“You’re supposed to come in and be a guy that’s going to help immediately. They’re not bringing in JuCo guys to sit.
“It’s nice to be able to have a familiar face to kind of look at to help with the school part and the adjustment.”
Rozzelle said he expects more CVCC players to sign before the end of the spring season in 2019.
“These six guys are great, but this is not taking away anything from the guys who didn’t sign because we’re going to have a lot more guys sign before this is over with,” Rozzelle said. “We love our sophomore class. They’ve got a chance to be really, really special.
“We are going to celebrate them when that day comes, but for right now, today was really nice to kind of watch those six move on and fulfill a little bit of a dream.”