Last spring, then sophomore, Kam Armstead and freshman, Brady Eichler noticed an area where the school was lacking. Although Samford had a variety of club sports to choose from, they did not have a team dedicated to America’s favorite pastime: baseball.
Armstead and Eichler both played baseball in high school and received offers to play at a collegiate level. However, they ultimately chose to attend Samford for its academic opportunities, accepting they would have to give up the sport they love. Despite their decision, this sacrifice has not been permanent, with the two students deciding to create Samford’s new club baseball team to continue their sport.
“We realized we were one of the only schools in the region that didn’t have a club baseball team…there’s a lot of baseball players at Samford who want an outlet to play, especially for guys like me and Kam, who baseball has been our life” Eichler said, “We saw the problem and we wanted to fix that problem.”
Armstead said that their hope is to create an avenue for other students who are passionate about baseball but were not able to continue their careers at a collegiate level.
“We wanted to be where a lot of the guys who came from high school who didn’t have offers or who had like smaller JUCO offers but really wanted to come [to Samford] can come and still play baseball while being a student and going to the school they really want to.” Armstead stated.
The club team held tryouts on Sep. 4 and 13 and had their first practice Nov. 4. The team is a member of the Dixie West conference, which includes several large schools like University of Georgia and Vanderbilt University.
Team member Harper Thornbrough stated that he is looking forward to being able to compete again with the team.
“I’m really looking forward to just getting back in the groove of playing baseball… it’s been four years for me since I last played, that being my senior year of high school, so it’ll be nice to finally play the game I love in a competitive nature again,” Thornbrough said.
Eichler said that the community created by the team has been positive.
“My favorite thing is seeing that this collection of baseball players are coming out the woodwork and it was really fun…getting to see your people and have those connections suddenly just come back and utilize has been amazing,” Eichler stated. “We have such a quality group of guys on our team who I love being around, whether it’s a place that we practice at or on the field or even just on Ben Brown hanging out.”
The team’s season begins in February, with eight home games available for Samford students to attend.
Staff Reporter
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