SHARPSBURG, Ga. — As coronavirus shuts down schools and spring sports seasons, at least a few high school athletes can look forward to the next phase of their careers.
Trinity Christian School student and Mercer University baseball commit Shep Hancock out of Sharpsburg, Georgia is hoping he can get back on the diamond this year, but knows he at least has a college career ahead of him.
The GHSA recommended a suspension of spring sports for, at minimum, two weeks. Trinity Christian is complying, so there'll be no Lion baseball for the foreseeable future. Still, Hancock is focused on what he can control.
"I think we're just kind of focused on internal things right now, not letting anything sway us in any certain direction and focusing on doing the little things right and competing inside of our culture," Hancock said.
The senior everyman signed with Mercer University just after National Signing Day in February. He joins a baseball team that has won at least 35 games every year for the last 10 seasons, one of four Division I programs to do so.
Hancock said winning wasn't the only thing that factored into his decision.
"It felt like a great place. I mean academically, baseball, atmosphere," Hancock said. "Ultimately I wanted somewhere I could go away from high school, away from the house, and have that father figure, that leadership, and that culture that I really wanted to fit into, and I felt like that was the perfect place to fit in for me."
Academically, Mercer has the rigor he needs. He wants to be a sports physician's assistant after college graduation.
Hancock and his family could not say enough about Mercer baseball head coach, Craig Gibson, and his staff. Ultimately, the decision was not about the fanfare surrounding the program, but about the baseball family in it.
"They've been really welcoming. Obviously, you know, sometimes it gets political, but it felt like it was personal with Coach Gibson, Coach Shade, Coach Stewart, everybody up there. It was a different feel for me from the other schools, but yeah it just felt like family," Hancock said.
Hancock knows a promising career on the college baseball diamond is ahead of him, but for now, like so many other high school seniors, he'd like one last chance to play with his current teammates.
"I'm ready to get back out on the baseball field," he said.
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