Pioneers Baseball Player, Josh Griffin, has one thing to say to fans, “Come watch the Neers’ in action, we are gonna be good!”
The Vol State Pioneers Baseball team is about to start their 2022 season, and there is a lot that is new about the team this year. One big difference is the new Head Coach, Jim McGuire. This season will be his first full season at Vol State, and he is bringing in a holistic view. McGuire said, “It's all about development. It is about development as a player and as a student-athlete, but its development as a young man too, and just the life lessons that baseball and college athletics give them. I think it is something they take with them the rest of their life… and will allow them to be good young men after they leave the program.”
The team has been practicing on and off the field to prepare for the upcoming season. Player Dalton Pyzer said, “We are out here every day [for] 3 to 4 hours, just getting after it.” The players also do team-building exercises, such as one that took place last week. “We had Jason Kim, former Navy seal, talk to us about team, culture, and brotherhood, and I think that relates to everything we are trying to do here, for sure,” said Griffin.
McGuire coached at Middle Tennessee State University for 26 years prior to coming to Vol State. “After coaching at a big school for a long time, I think you lose sight of [community],” said McGuire. “You have your inner circle you work with, but here everybody is on board with what you are trying to do because they want to see you have success and they want to be a part of what you are doing.”
With the first home game coming up on Friday, February 18th at 2:00 p.m., the public can expect to see a team that takes pride in representing Vol State and the Gallatin community on and off the field.
