Samples leading the ‘Cats to success

If you want to know what professional baseball players were like before they made it big, all you have to do is check out Jason Samples.

“I’ve grown up playing baseball. I started out in t-ball when I was four,” Samples said.

Samples knows what it takes to be a good ball player. He played for Brookwood High School in Snellville, Ga., before coming to Georgia College & State University. At Brookwood, he earned First Team All-County honors during his junior and senior years and was nationally ranked in the top ten his senior year for runs scored in one season.

“I chose GC&SU because of the baseball program’s winning reputation. When people think of GC&SU they know they can come see good baseball,” Samples said.

Samples began his four years here at GC&SU by starting at second base in 43 games. Even as a freshman he was ranked second on the team and seventh in the Peach Belt Conference with 16 stolen bases and a .370 batting average. He has maintained, and even improved, his baseball status over the last couple of years with a batting average only
briefly dipping lower than .320.

Samples has traditions he follows to ensure a good game.

“I’m very superstitious,” he said. “I listen to the same cd’s before every game. I also wear the same pair of socks each game. If I play a good game I make sure my shoes are clean before the next game, but if I have a bad game, I leave my shoes dirty until my luck picks back up.”

Besides playing baseball, which consumes most of his time, Samples likes to do “anything athletic.” He likes lifting weights in particular and is very physically active.

Samples’ most memorable baseball moment took place in high school. His team was in the AAAA State Championship. He remembers all the fans and attention they received.

“There were over four thousand fans at the stadium for the championship game,” he said. “There were also TV crews all over the place.”

Samples will be graduating from GC&SU with a business degree, but he hopes to do something with baseball.

“I would love to be drafted. I’ve worked really hard and hope to have a good season this year,” he said. “If baseball is not in my future, I will keep working on business.”

For recent Bobcat action and their latest news go to
www.gcsu.edu/bobcats.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 21 2003. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry