THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 11, 1996 TAG: 9604100116
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMI FRANKENBERRY, SUN SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
LEE REDD SOUNDS almost like a salesman when talking about his star baseball player at Southampton Academy, Brian Hobbs.
``He's got talent, there's no question he's got talent,'' Redd said. ``He's got an extremely strong arm and a good bat. He'll be a good one.''
Redd has gotten used to sounding like a salesman because that's what he has been for the last few months. The Raiders coach said he called between 10 and 15 colleges offering the services of Hobbs, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound outfielder. The senior, a first-team All-Virginia Commonwealth Conference and honorable mention all-state selection last season, has had trouble getting noticed at tiny Southampton Academy, a school with 49 students in grades nine through 12.
``He's not getting a lot of looks,'' Redd said. ``He'd be opening eyes if he was at a bigger school. It's a matter of getting his name out.''
Redd has learned that getting Hobbs' name out doesn't mean a coach will be impressed. Hobbs, who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds, is batting .430 with 90 stolen bases in three years of playing varsity for the Raiders. He also stole home six times last year. But college coaches have been turned away because of the competition Hobbs plays.
``It's hard to get a coach to come out, they're so busy looking at triple-A schools,'' said Hobbs, who is batting .500 and has 17 stolen bases in eight games this season. ``It's very frustrating.''
Hobbs said most likely next year, he'll be a walk-on somewhere. He is eyeing Old Dominion and Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C., after Redd contacted, among others, North Carolina State and East Carolina and received a ``Thanks, but no thanks'' reply.
``My door is pretty much open,'' said Hobbs, who has already qualified academically to attend a Division I school.
Receiving lukewarm interest from college coaches has motivated Hobbs, who was an all-star last year on his American Legion baseball team in Emporia.
``I have to work harder to get noticed,'' he said. ``I work more at fine-tuning everything. I come into every game with a good attitude and never back off.''
One person Hobbs doesn't have to prove his athletic ability to is Southampton Academy football coach Dale Marks, who watched Hobbs rush for 1,750 yards on just 150 carries (11.6 yards per carry) this season for the Raiders' eight-man football team. Hobbs was named MVP of the Colonial Carolina Conference and led the Raiders, Virginia's only eight-man squad, to North Carolina's state football championship game.
``He's a good overall athlete and has tremendous heart,'' Marks said. ``In football, he has explosive speed, he just turns it on. We were running him to death at times, but he was sticking it out.''
Marks said Hobbs received interest for football from William and Mary, West Virginia Tech and Elon College after coaches saw tapes of the running back. Hobbs, however, said he wasn't interested in playing college football.
``I like football, but baseball is definitely the sport I want to play,'' said Hobbs, whose baseball team is 4-4 this year. ``I'm not ready to quit playing (after high school). I want to take it as far as I can.''
Hobbs admitted that going to Southampton Academy has hurt his chances of playing college baseball, but he has no regrets.
``I've known people (at Southampton Academy) my whole life,'' he said. ``It's just fun to play with people you know. . . . And the classes are a little tougher and prepare you for college better (than a public school).''
Hobbs, though, said he will keep trying to prepare for college baseball, wherever it may lead him.
``Baseball is baseball,'' he said. ``You just don't let where you come from get you down.''
And Redd will keep alternating between baseball coach and salesman: ``I feel like wherever he goes, he should get a lot of playing time his freshman year. He's got all the tools. Somebody's going to miss the boat on this one.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Southampton Academy's Brian Hobbs, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound outfielder,
is batting .430 with 90 stolen bases in three years for the Raiders.
He is batting .500 and has 17 stolen bases in eight games this
season.
by CNB