CARROLLTON, Ala. — The pictures chart Jeff White’s maturation.
One picture — appropriately secured in a frame with a baseball motif — has White mustering all of his strength to wield a bat in T-ball. Another picture shows White standing a little taller than his age-group teammates. Another is a color one of him in his Pickens Academy uniform — No. 44 — and a black and white picture of his grandfather, Jack, poised in a catcher’s stance.
In all, there were five pictures of White centered on tables in the school cafeteria. In the center table in front of the back wall, boxes of Cracker Jack accompanied cupcakes adorned with white frosting and Twizzlers to mimic the red seams of baseball on two platters of snacks for the assembled family members, friends, and classmates.
Even though it was Jan. 17, everything about the arrangement said baseball, which shouldn’t have been a surprise considering White has been around the sport since he was 3 years old.
On Tuesday, the Pickens Academy senior took the next step in his baseball journey when he signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball at Bevill State Community College in Sumiton, Alabama.
“I have always been around a ballfield,” White said. “That is where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do every day after school, to go to the ballfield.”
Jeff said he immediately fit in with all of his father’s players and something clicked with baseball. He said he thinks the sport has been in his blood since he was little, which helps explain why he has stayed focused on the dream he realized Tuesday.
“It means a lot,” White said. “It is what I have always worked for and wanted to do. There were bumps along the way — a lot of them — and there still will be. I just worked harder at whatever my problems were and got over them.”
Pickens Academy baseball coach Brach White, who is Jeff’s father, said his wife, Michele, selected the pictures on the tables. From Central Academy in Macon to Pickens Academy, Jeff has followed his father’s footsteps at nearly every practice and game. In fact, one of the pictures shows a young Jeff as a ball boy for Central Academy.
“There are a lot of memories there,” Brach White said. “He has been on a bus with me before he could even walk. I don’t know if he ever missed a game. He started off as a ball boy and then the next thing you know he is playing. It is hard to remember when he didn’t play now.”
Coach White said Jeff, who also plays on the school’s football team, always played summer baseball. He also said he doesn’t think Jeff has missed a varsity football game. He said Jeff was born on a Monday and was at the school’s next football game that Thursday and Friday night.
Coach White said Jeff’s work ethic made it easier for him to be so connected to sports, especially baseball. He admits it is challenging for any parent to coach one of their own, but he feels Jeff has responded well and has taken it upon himself to do the things he needed to do to get a chance to play at the next level.
“He always loved football, but baseball was just the thing,” coach White said. “With his size, we knew he had a chance to be a good pitcher, and he has done a good job in that for us. Now he is going to get the opportunity to do it.”
White will play for coach Joey May at Bevill State C.C. Former Pickens Academy player Chase Davidson, who went on to play at Shelton State C.C, will be an assistant coach at Bevill State C.C., which announced the return of athletics to its campuses last year. The Fayette campus will have men’s baseball and women’s volleyball. The Sumiton campus will host women’s softball. The Jasper campus will have men’s basketball.
Former Heritage Academy standout Cody Mordecai and South Lamar High School standout Carson Lindsey are among the players who already have signed to play at Bevill State C.C.
White has an 11-4 career record and a 2.96 ERA. He has struck out 102 and walked 34 in 80 1/3 innings. He also has a .307 batting average with 31 RBIs.
Last season, he was an All-State, All-District, and West Alabama All-Area selection. As a sophomore, he was an All-District and a West Alabama All-Area pick. As a freshman, he earned the Coaches Award and was the captain of the junior varsity team.
Coach White said Jeff wanted to stay close to home and was eager to be a part of a new program. He said Jeff played American Legion ball for coach May a few years ago, so he feels it will be a smooth transition to college baseball. If everything works out, Jeff’s move to Bevill State C.C. will give coach White and his family plenty of more chances to get some more pictures and to chart Jeff’s next steps in baseball.
“He has had a desire for a long time to do it, and that is what it is going to take,” coach White said.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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