Ben Coody finally put pen to paper and officially signed with Berry College last week.
He did this after his four-year career on the diamond for Morgan County ended three weeks ago.
Coody is relieved to have the recruiting process over and graduation almost behind him.
“It definitely feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders,” Coody said. “I feel bad that I got senioritis about a week ago. I am going to miss playing as a Bulldog, but for it to be done, I can finally focus on going to Berry (College) in the fall and what I need to do to prepare for that. There’s really nothing else on my mind right now other than getting on campus.”
Morgan County head coach Merritt Ainslie said back in January that Coody is a “joy to watch.”
“He always comes ready to work every day, and to get better at baseball,” he said. “He’s a great student in the classroom and a good role model for [our] younger players.”
During the signing ceremony, Coody had his family, friends and coaches there for support.
He said that it was a moment that he will never forget.
“It was a great feeling just have to people that will voluntarily go out of their way to come and watch me sign,” he added. “It’s definitely a great feeling to know that you have people that are there for you. It’s selfless for them to be there.”
The Bulldogs’ 2022 season ended in the second round of the GHSA Class 3A tournament. Reigning state runner-up Franklin County swept them in a two-game series. Still, they ended up with a 20-12 overall record and 14-4 mark in region play.
Despite not making a deeper run in the state playoffs, Coody was satisfied with his senior season. “I was more concerned about the
“I was more concerned about the team’s success going into this year [rather than my own],” Coody said. “We didn’t go as far as we had hoped, but I was so proud of the way we kept on fighting. No matter what the score was, we never gave up.”
Coody highlighted that the series against Oconee County on Senior Night was a great example of how the Bulldogs never stopped fighting.
“In each of those games, we were down 8-1 and 7-1, and we battled back to win both of them,” Coody said. “The fight in the team was incredible that night.”
Morgan County had two seniors on its roster in February. Coody was the only one left by the season’s end in May. So, the Bulldogs will return a lot of players next year.
Coody stated that will only benefit the program heading into next season.
“For them to be as young as they were, and to go as far as they did, it was incredible,” he said. “The future is bright. I can’t wait to see what they will do next season.” The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Berry signee
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Berry signee primarily played third base and outfield for MCHS. However, he is going to be a pitcher for the Vikings at the next level.
At the plate, Coody batted .354 during his senior season. He finished with a team’s fourth-best 23 hits and 17 RBI, respectively. He also only stuck out seven times in 2022.
Coody pitched 25.2 innings, allowing 24 runs and 12 earned runs in 11 outings in 2022. He also had a 3.24 ERA with 24 strikeouts and 10 walks, respectively.
The Madison, Ga. native acknowledged that he’s improved on a lot of different aspects of his game since the start of his senior season. He added that he specifically has been working on learning how to disguise his pitches better. “I give all the credit to pitching coach
“I give all the credit to pitching coach (Jerry) McCullough,” Coody said. “Before the season, he noticed that whenever I was throwing my offspeed pitches, I had a different arm slot compared to my fastball. So, it was easy to pick up on what pitch I was throwing. He and I worked on keeping the same arm slot for every one of my pitches. I saw a huge result after I was able to get my mind right and some muscle memory going. It’s like night and day now.”
He will enroll at Berry in the fall but will try and improve on his craft during the summer.
“The coaching staff [at Berry] sent me a workout program, so now I am just going to hit the gym every day,” Coody said. “I’m going to follow their plan, and see how strong I can get. That is the main thing I am worried about heading into the fall.”