By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
MOODY – Surrounded by family, friends, teammates, coaches and Moody High School faculty and staff on Monday, Moody baseball player Chase Marshall signed his letter to play collegiate baseball for the Bevill State Community College Bears.
Marshall helped his team to a 16-16 record for the season, ending in the first round of the playoffs with a tough loss to Arab, who made it deep into the state playoffs this season. While it may not have been the final result that Moody nor Marshall were looking for, there is still plenty to be proud of when it comes to this team and, in particular, this player.
“He’s going to leave a huge hole. He was one of our leaders on and off the field, our three-hole hitter, shortstop for us, one of our top 3 pitchers and really just an overall great kid,” said Moody Coach Eamonn Kelly. “We have some young guys who are going to try to fill that role, but it’s going to be hard to replace a Chase Marshall.”
Chase was over a .400 hitter for the Blue Devils, had 109 hits in his career, which ranks him in the top 10 in school history. “He didn’t have a ton of home runs, but he got them when we needed him to,” said Kelly.
“I’m proud of Chase. Just the fact that he had patience throughout the whole process. He had some offers early, but he wanted to go to Bevill,” said Coach Kelly. “He waited on the coach to find some money and it worked out for him. He could have signed early but he waited it out and played the game and it worked out for him.”
Chase had the following to say about the day, “It means a lot since I’ve been playing travel ball and school ball. This was the overall goal. I have always put God first and counted on him. To the underclassmen on the team, if this is the end goal for you, it means the world to be able to tell you parents and just have the feeling of all the work paying off.”
Coach Kelly’s message to underclassmen who are seeing players get signed such as Marshall, as well as Payton Isbell who signed with Gadsden State earlier in the year, is, “It doesn’t happen for everybody. You see what these guys who are signing scholarships, they aren’t lazy. They don’t just show up and play. They put in the work, the time, and the effort and they are committed to the process. Also, having the ability to be patient like Chase was. Sometimes it doesn’t happen early. Sometimes it’s later. There are others in this county right now who are waiting. You’ve just got to be patient.”