STARKVILLE — Starkville High School senior baseball player Austin Campbell knew the first person he needed to call after his official visit to East Mississippi Community College.
“Austin called me and said, ‘I think it went real well. Do you want to be roommates?'” Starkville senior Carter Bentley. “I was so excited because I really wanted this.”
The two have been close friends since their ninth-grade year at Starkville High shortly after Bentley moved to the school from Alabama. The friendship has now turned into a package deal for the EMCC baseball program.
It all became official Wednesday when the players signed scholarship offers with EMCC before a large crowd at the Starkville High library.
“It’s exciting because this is what each of us has worked so hard for,” Campbell said. “You dream of that chance to play college ball. You want to see your name on those papers. It’s a humbling experience. It is also exciting.”
Starkville High baseball coach Travis Garner believed in Campbell from an early age.
“It seems like yesterday that we put Austin on the mound, as a freshman, and he was winning a playoff game against Grenada,” Garner said. “He has pitched so many innings and been part of so many big games. We are going to miss the fact we could always go to him on the mound and he was going to give us everything he had.”
For Bentley, the road to a college scholarship involved a little more adversity.
“Being hurt my junior year was a tough experience,” Bentley said. “It meant I had to come out my senior year and really show everybody what I had. That put a little more pressure on this year, but it worked out in the end. When you have an injury, you always worry you will go back to being the player you once were.
“Fortunately, it all worked out. I just kept believing and working hard, and that got me to this day.”
Garner said Bentley was a force in the middle infield. He was also one of the team’s most prolific hitters.
“Carter always had great at-bats,” Garner said. “He is one of those players who understands the game. He always played smart, played hard. We are going to miss his leadership and that offensive production. Two players who are going to be difficult to replace.”
Bentley has been on EMCC’s wish list for better than a year. Campbell was a late addition to the recruitment process.
“The (EMCC) coaches told us they would be at Tupelo (for a playoff game) to see Austin pitch,” Garner said. “I am really glad it worked out this way when the two of them going together like this. Austin will be workhorse for them, just like he was for us.
According to MaxPreps.com, Campbell, a left-hander, was 5-1 with a 2.36 earned run average and two saves for the Yellow Jackets (15-13) this season. He allowed 29 hits and walked 17 in 35 2/3 innings. He struck out 40.
Campbell said the EMCC coaches told him he would be counted on as a major contributor to the pitching staff as a freshman. Bentley has played second base at Starkville High and figures to stay in a middle infield position.
“We have been best friends for four years,” Campbell said. “I am so excited we don’t have to do this alone and that we will be going to school together, living together, playing baseball together. It means a lot to share this day with him. It’s a great opportunity. This will be fun.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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