Drew Pounders received word to be ready a few days prior to the New Hope High School baseball team’s doubleheader Saturday against Winfield (Ala.) and Lamar County (Ala.).
Pounders had a feeling he might get a chance for his first varsity start against Winfield because Koby Harcrow, the team’s starting shortstop, was scheduled to pitch, so the heads up from New Hope coach Lee Boyd helped Pounders get his mind right.
As Pounders waited for game day, he told himself to relax and not to be nervous.
It didn’t help.
“I have a bad habit of biting my finger nails,” Pounders said. “They are pretty stubby (now).”
Pounders admitted he was nervous for the first pitch, but none of that anxiety showed itself on the field, as he had a day to remember. The 5-foot-9, 145-pound sophomore went 4-for-4 with three RBIs in a 9-3 win against Winfield and followed that up by going 1-for-1 with two walks and a sacrifice bunt in a 9-1 win against Lamar County.
For his accomplishments, Pounders is The Dispatch’s Prep Player of the Week.
“It was more than I thought it would be,” Pounders said. “It was awesome getting out on the field in front of the crowd and having fun.”
Boyd said Pounders was one of several players at the beginning of the season he thought might have a chance to see varsity action. He said Pounders was in the mix for a spot in the midfield and was moved to shortstop because the coaches wanted him to play that position on the junior varsity team.
“He has played really well and done a really good job, so I kind of felt like he deserved a chance to get out there and have a varsity start,” Boyd said. “I wasn’t expecting 4-for-4 out of him, but he gets up there and hits a double and then a single and you look up and all of a sudden he is 4-for-4.”
Boyd said Carson Forrester tweaked a knee prior to the second game against Lamar County, which gave Pounders a chance to play in that game, so Boyd opted to start him at designated hitter.
“He gets a single in his first at-bat and a couple of walks and puts down a really good bunt,” Boyd said. “I think he is hitting 1.000 in the books. That is pretty good. He did a good job.”
Pounders said the start was his first as a DH.
Boyd hopes the example Pounders has set by having a good attitude and working hard in practice will show younger players what they need to do to earn an opportunity to earn playing time.
“We told our guys that there are 14 or 15 guys pushing for time somebody is not going to get it because I can only nine or 10 on the field with a DH,” Boyd said. “He could have pouted and got upset about that, but he didn’t. He continued to work hard. In live batting practice, he is like a rocket. He comes to get every groundball hit at him. That kind of effort, you don’t get that out of everybody out here. We see that effort in practice and you want to reward him with playing time on the field, and he did really well.”
Pounders said he did better than he thought he would do. He hopes he can build on the confidence he gained in the first varsity starts. He knows he will have to be ready today when New Hope (8-2) opens district play against Oxford. With his first varsity starts out of the way, Pounders isn’t going to change his approach.
“Coach always says he like effort and attitude, and I always give 100 percent in practice, in the weight room, and hitting,” Pounders said. “I just did what I thought coach would like and he gave me a shot.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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