STARKVILLE — Caleb Griffin needed to prove himself.
Coming into his senior year, the Starkville Academy baseball right-handed pitcher had interest from a few junior colleges, but he didn’t have any offers. But he had a full season ahead of him to impress coaches.
Griffin thrived in that pressure-packed situation and showed he had the stuff to play at the next level. He made it official by signing a national letter of intent with Northeast Mississippi Community College Friday in front of family, friends, coaches and teammates.
“They liked him,” Volunteer coach Jarrod Parks said. “They’ve liked him for a very long time and they pulled the trigger. Caleb’s been leaning that way and he just kind of solidified probably what they’ve been thinking since last year and leading up into this year.”
In eight starts, Griffin is 6-1 with a 1.43 ERA. Opponents are hitting .134 against him and he has allowed 15 runs on 21 hits. He has recorded 58 strikeouts and issued 13 walks.
Griffin said he heard from Northeast in the fall, but they told him they wanted to see a good senior season from him. So Griffin decided to make sure they saw the very best he had to offer and put in the time in the offseason.
“I worked harder than I have in the previous offseasons,” Griffin said. “Every year since my sophomore year I’ve just progressively worked harder and harder. My dream was to play college baseball and in order to fulfill that dream I was going to have to work harder than I’ve ever had. The offseason was big time for me.”
Griffin picked Northeast over Mississippi Delta Community College and Holmes Community College. He said Pearl River Community College and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College showed some interest but it was very little.
With the early interest he got from NEMCC, Griffin got a chance to to see what they had to offer and how the Tiger program could help him develop as a pitcher. Griffin was especially impressed with pitching coach Jon Andy Scott.
Scott pitched two seasons at Northeast before finishing his career in Oxford at Ole Miss.
“I’ve been talking to coach Scott since the fall and I’ve really gotten to know him and develop a relationship with him already,” Griffin said. “It just seemed like the right fit for me.
“To be honest, my heart’s always been at Northeast. They’ve been talking to me since the fall. They were kind of the first school to kind of jump on me, so since the fall that’s where I’ve been wanting to go.”
Griffin, who was one out away from a no-hitter against rival Heritage Academy Tuesday, suffered a loss to the Patriots in the first meeting this season. He had pitched well leading into the first district game, but the Patriots were able to touch him up and the Volunteers took the loss.
The revenge game for Griffin was ideal because it clinched the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, District 2 crown for the Volunteers. But the loss taught him a valuable lesson.
“It snapped me back in reality and it taught me I can be beaten,” Griffin said. “I just need to work harder to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Parks, who played at Meridian Community College, Mississippi State and in the Los Angles Angels minor league system, said he didn’t get to see Griffin really pitch until January. Coming from East Mississippi Community College to take over the Starkville Academy program last summer, Parks had heard of Griffin from assistant Brooks Roberts but he wanted to see for himself.
He was impressed but feels like the character Griffin has developed is the biggest achievement.
“He’s leading the team so much more than just going out there and leading by example,” Parks said. “He leads with his voice in the dugout whether he’s pitching or not, in practice and everywhere.”
With a fastball (82-84 miles per hour), a curveball (upper 60s to lower 70s) and a changeup (72-74), Parks feels like Griffin has a chance to be special because he can throw all three pitches for a strike. Parks feels like a good workout program at NEMCC will increase that velocity and make Griffin that more dangerous.
Starkville Academy (17-3, 6-1 2AAA) plays host to Winston Academy 6 p.m. Monday on senior night, travels to Leake Academy Tuesday and Canton Academy Saturday to end the regular season.
Griffin is glad his hard work paid off, but he’s also glad he has figured out where he is going to continue his career.
“It’s hard to kind of focus on what business you have to get done at home,” Griffin said. “When I finally decided that I wanted to commit and get it out of the way, I felt like it took a lot of pressure off so I could focus on our goals that we have this year.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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