Ward emerges as leader for baseball team

The Bobcat baseball team is rounding out the season with hopes of defeating Armstrong Atlantic to take the lead over Columbus State in the PBC west.

Much of their success is due to two returning senior starters: catcher Richard Pirkle and right fielder Shawn Ward.

Ward leads eight offensive categories with 216 plate appearances, a .391 batting average, 56 runs batted in, and 106 total bases so far this season.

Ward, however, does not keep up with his statistics himself.

“My dad does and he informs me. If I have a good game he will call me and tell me what I’m hitting,” Ward said. “We don’t bring it [statistics] up much but when we do it’s all in fun and games. When it’s brought up we definitely have a little bit of fun with it.”

Another category leader and close friend of Ward agrees. Richard Pirkle knows that stats aren’t everything.

“We’re not big on stats but we joke around with each other. I mean he likes to use a different bat every now and then and I give him crap about that. He’s just consistent; he’s got so much talent,” Pirkle said. “He sticks with it. He’s very consistent with his swing and how he goes about practice.”

Ward played at Middle Georgia College for two years and was an All-Conference player.

Head Coach for the Bobcats, Tom Carty, recognized Ward’s talent and was glad Ward enjoyed playing for Georgia College.

“Shawn came in here pretty successful out of junior college,” Carty said. “We try to recruit really successful players. You try not to get in their way too much and try not to over coach too much because they’ve obviously done some things and done them well,” Carty said.

Ward leads by example and motivates the team with his performance on the field.

“Shawn’s not the kind of person who’s a vocal leader. He [leads] more by example and how he plays. He plays the game hard and he approaches everything the same. Go hard, 110 percent and have a lot of confidence,” Pirkle said.

Ward knows his strengths and what he needs to work on.

He responds to coaching well and pursues help when he realizes he needs it.

“Shawn will come to the coach when he’s struggling and I think that’s the sign of a mature player,” Carty said.

Batting is usually something that Ward doesn’t struggle with.

“I think my strength is definitely in the box hitting and something I would like to work on is my defense and maybe my throws from the outfield,” Ward said. “I tend to rush sometimes and I don’t get the velocity like I should. I just wish my defense was a little better at times.”

Ward is hopeful to win the PBC-West by beating Armstrong Atlantic at home to edge out Columbus State.

“Winning the Peachbelt championship. That’s what I would love to happen. I want to sweep Armstrong and then I want to go to the Peachbelt tournament and not lose a game there and get to regionals,” Ward said.

Whatever the outcome of the season Ward hopes to play All-pro independent baseball and then considers the military as an option after he’s done playing baseball.

“If I could say one thing to anybody it’s don’t have any regrets,” Ward said. “Work as hard as you can and leave it all on the field.”

Posted by Drake Simons on Apr 28 2011. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.