by Matt Wright
“You’re here to document how all this began,” said Coach Chris Godwin at Tuesday’s afternoon practice. He continued saying, “One day people can look back and see how it all started.”
With a new high school under construction, transitioning to high school sports is something Lakeland Prep is starting to think about. And with a beautiful baseball facility in the construction plans, it was decided the time to start playing baseball is now.
Coach Godwin, who is also the Athletics Director for the middle school, has helped all school sports get started since the middle school opened. Now he is personally leading the way to get the baseball program off the ground. “Baseball and softball touches closer to my heart because it has been one of my main passions my entire life,” Coach Godwin said. “I was the TSSAA Baseball player of the year in 1989 (playing at Skyview Academy) and I was a 2-Time All OVC shortstop at Murray State University.”
Playing baseball was a big part of Coach Godwin’s background but he’s also served as a baseball coach in many capacities over the past 20 years. Most notably as the Bolton High School baseball coach for 7 years where he won coach of the year in 2012 and 2014. He said he’s learned to be patient over the years and says that patience will be needed this season. “We will be playing teams that consist mainly of 8th graders, but we only have one 8th grader on our team. The rest are 6th and 7th graders.” Coach Tyler White, the middle school football coach is also assisting with baseball. Coach White, who also has experience coaching high school baseball, said there’s a lot of similarities between the programs. “We had to start the same way with football. We didn’t have much, but you have to start somewhere, and it moves along quickly because we have great parents and booster clubs.”
The Lions will also be one of the first teams in Tennessee to play in a sanctioned baseball division by the TMSAA (the middle school division of the TSSAA). The first ever TMSAA league will consist of Lakeland, West Collierville and Collierville plus other schools from around the state. The league is expected to grow next year. A state championship game will be played for the new division on May 21, 2021. The Lions will also schedule non conference games against teams from Tipton and Shelby County.
Playing older teams will not be the only challenge this season, the Lions don’t have a home field for practice. For now they practice on the turf football field or in the gym if it rains. However, home games will be played at USA Stadium in Millington, widely considered one of the nicest baseball facilities in the area. The lack of a baseball field this season didn’t seem to bother the players who enjoyed an afternoon of practice on the mild, sunny afternoon of February 23, 2021. Bryce Thomas, 7th grader, said he was proud to be one of the first ever to play baseball for Lakeland. “I’ve been looking forward to this and working hard like many other boys to get to this moment.” He added, “I love my school and I know many others do too. This is what I love about baseball. You want to always have fun, have a positive mindset, while always having a chip on your shoulder to try to win!”
As the players wrapped up and started putting away equipment you could clearly see the enthusiasm Coach Godwin and Coach White have for the kids and the program. “I think Lakeland has tons of baseball talent,” Coach Godwin declared. He finished by saying, “Having a middle school team will help develop the kids fundamentally and prepare them for the future Lakeland Prep High school. It is going to be fun watching these young men develop into great high school players.”
