STARKVILLE — Starkville Academy baseball player Harper Arnold knows a good opportunity when he sees it.
Arnold jumped on his latest good opportunity Thursday when he took advantage of a chance to further his baseball career by signing with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
“There have a new president and they are in the process of pumping about $27 million dollar into athletics,” Arnold said. “They are getting a new baseball stadium. A lot of exciting things are going on down there and I am looking forward to being a part of that.”
A pitcher and first baseman for the Volunteers, Arnold established himself early in the tenure of second-year head coach Jody Britt as one of the team’s hardest workers.
“He is one of those ‘first to come, last to leave’ kind of guys,” Britt said. “His work ethic is incredible. It rubs off on the other players. He is always doing that extra thing to get ahead.”
Arnold gave up football to concentrate full time on baseball last season. He saw the opportunity to play his favorite sport on a higher level and has been determined to achieve that goal.
“Everyone wants to play in college and I feel blessed to have that opportunity,” Arnold said. “At the end of last season, I really dedicated myself to being the best player I could be. It is great to see all of the hard work pay off. That really has been the motivation. I wanted to be able to play on the next level. Hopefully, after two more years, I will have another chance to play at a senior college.”
The Volunteers finished strong last season, with a young team playing much better in the second half of the season.
“We really are counting on Harper’s leadership this season,” Britt said. “We have some talented seniors and we feel like we can turn the corner this season. The seniors are setting the standard for how we work, how we practice. For the players such as Harper, you can tell they are looking for a return on the investment of the time they have put in.”
Arnold feels like Starkville Academy can return to the elite ranks of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools this season.
“We have a really talented team,” Arnold said. “The team got a lot of confidence from how we played at end of the season. Now, the job is to build on that.”
Once the season is complete, Arnold’s next job will be to grow as a pitcher.
“Gulf Coast has provided me a great opportunity,” Arnold said. “I will be just pitching there. So it will be a chance to really concentrate on pitching and turn into the best pitcher I can become. I have learned so much from Coach Britt in my time here. We have grown together as a team. Hopefully, those things will help me on the next level.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
