WEST POINT — The young Mississippi University for Women baseball team will be taking a big step up in competition for the 2024 season, and JD Tumey is looking forward to it.
“I think they have a good shot, and with me able to go to that team, it’s even a better shot,” said the West Point High School pitcher, who made his choice of The W official on Friday. “I think I’m going to have a bright future there.”
Green Wave coach Mitch Bohon agrees.
“He’s made some adjustments this year, and he has a chance to be special,” Bohon said. “He’s got potential to be really good, it’s just gotta click completely mentally for him.”
In his first year as head coach at West Point, Bohon made a quick impact on Tumey, one that played a part in leading him to The W.
“I went over there and met the coaches,” Tumey said. “I really like the school, and the coaches are a lot like Bohon, and I really like how he coaches.
“Coach Bohon, he’s opened my eyes to a whole new style of baseball, a whole new way to play it. He did that for all of us, and we went from maybe a first or second round to OK, we can go all the way this year.”
A potential pipeline between West Point and The W is in the works, a process that began because the Owls, who don’t have an on-campus facility, needed a field.
“They needed a place to practice, and they were working out over here,” Bohon said. “We gained a good ally and a great relationship out of it.
“(Tumey) fit the bill. They also offered Matthew Bennett. They’ve offered two of our guys already, and probably more down the road.”
Tumey knows exactly what his job will be with the Owls: “Throw a lot of strikes.”
Bohon noted that does not mean grooving pitches right down the middle.
“It’s his movement,” Bohon said. “Every pitch he throws has movement.”
Tumey also was impressed with the academics at The W. The Division III level in general, and The W in particular, place significant value on the phrase “student-athlete.”
“I felt like they could offer me the best education,” he said. “I’m going to go into teaching, coaching and go into kinesiology.”
The Owls have had some success in their current athletic home, the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. They have qualified for the USCAA Small College World Series three times in four seasons, placing fifth in 2018 and 2019 and third in 2021, when they finished 23-11.
“They’re there to push everybody that they get, and I think they’re going to push us to get right back there and win,” Tumey said.
And Bohon is looking forward to watching that.
“He’s doing a great job with the tools that he has had this year,” Bohon said. “I think the next couple of years he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.”
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