The North Carolina A&T Aggie baseball team is more than happy to get back to playing baseball after the 2020 season was cut short due to the Coronavirus outbreak. The Aggies were arguably the most consistent team in the MEAC conference over the last five years, which head coach Ben Hall will use as important points in its fall ball training period.
Hall stated, “We definitely have the deepest and most talented roster since I have been here. Really excited to be a part of an athletic department that has worked tirelessly and prepared hard to set a protocol that works for us to get started with our team. We are working through a lot of hurdles but it feels good to put a fall schedule together and to get our guys back on the field to start some productive training.”
With support from the schools administration, they are able to bring the 2020 senior class back in tact. NC A&T will return the entire weekend rotation in Michael Johnson, Ethan Chavis, Cole Parks along with closer Evan Gates. Also returning is one of the best bullpen arms in the country statistically in Leon Davidson. The program is really excited anytime you can return that kind of experience on the mound from returning seniors to hopefully finish their college careers on a high note in 2021.
The senior class returns catcher Ryne Stanley and shortstop Dustin Baber to provide a lot of maturity and stability to Aggie defense. Also returning are Camden Williamson, who was having a breakout 2020 campaign, and Shane Faulk, who was off to a great start offensively.
NC A&T picked up two exciting transfers. Both are highly rated players out of high school. Outfielder Cameron Brantley, spent his first year at the University of North Carolina then transferred from Florida Southwestern. Fellow outfielder Xavier Bussey started his career at South Carolina before transferring in. Both bring impact offensive ability and will be key contributors in 2021.
Some Names to keep an eye on as fall progresses:
Infielder JUCO transfer Grant Tilley from Catawba Valley Community College, a skilled player with some good offensive ability.
Matt Parsons first base out of South Carolina, physical player to keep an eye on as he was the #1 rated 1B out of South Carolina in the 2020 class.
Trevor Sheehan, freshman infielder talented player with a lot of upside.
Freshman pitchers Xavier Meachem and Isaiah Brewington both big physical right handers who show a lot of promise.
Two JUCO transfers, Trey Fields out of South Florida CC another arm to watch and lefty Daniel Carter, who has a really good arm, should be an early impact player.
Other returning position players are:
Alex Bibb, designated Hhtter, was off to a good start offensively in 2020 and has come back stronger, a year improved.
Outfielder Justin Rodriguez, had a great start to 2020 season, had a solid summer in CPL for Martinsville Mustangs.
Infielder Connor Knapp who was leading the team in hitting in 2020. Very versatile player with high bat to ball skills.
Hall said “In total we will carry 39 rostered players under the NCAA rules of expanded rosters. This by far is the deepest team we have had in my tenure and we feel like the talent level is much higher though our depth than ever before. Right now the focus is to stay as safe as possible and work hard to get our guys back in playing shape. They have a good understanding how fortunate they are to be able to participate and focus is not to take that for granted. We are going to do our best to prepare as normal as we can through this Covid era and adhering to our institutional protocols to get as much done this fall as we can.”
There is a renewed excitement as Aggie baseball nation focus day to day to instill a championship expectation for the 2021 season.