January 19, 2021 – Greenville, SC –
After having to wait an extra year due to a cancelled 2020 season, Bob Jones University is having their inaugural baseball season this upcoming year. The fans are excited and with the players they recruited and the coach they hired, there is good reasoning for this. There is some good competition in the NCCAA with teams like Saint Katherine and Concordia, but BJU is looking to make a great impression on the conference and start their baseball program off on the right foot.
A key part to starting a team from scratch and building it up to be something great is you need a real culture guy. During tryouts this past fall, pitcher Joshua Crane stood out and got the call to join the team later that week. Crane is your typical athlete. Loves the competition and lives for baseball. He started in tee ball when he was five years old and didn’t hang up his glove until attending Bob Jones University and that was only because they didn’t have a team yet. When tryouts were announced, Crane wasn’t sure he would go. He said in an interview over the fall that “the fun and passion for baseball came back” and he just had to try. When asked how he was feeling before the season and how he felt about getting the call to start, he said, “hyped”.
Coaching this first season for Bob Jones University is Brent Casteel. He is a former third baseman and catcher who was drafted in the ninth round by the Chicago Cubs and played 3 years before leaving baseball for personal reasons. 25 years later and he is back in the game. He said in an interview with Bruins sports director Jonny Gamet that he looks forward to “coaching guys up” and to “get them to where they need to be”. His key word for the season is “focus”. He felt he had baseball taken from him when he left 25 years ago and wants to share his experience with his players so that they can reach their full potential and so he can make sure his players keep their priorities on track.
Another neat thing about this team is the stadium they are playing at. Conestee Park has been a place for high school and travel teams to play at since about 2005. Before that, it was home to the AA team for the Braves. This is home to where players like John Smoltz and Chipper Jones played at and that just adds to this team’s excitement to start. After renovations in the bullpen, lighting, and seating, this stadium is going to make a beautiful new home to the Bruins.
Expectations for the year have to be up in the air because there isn’t anything to tell us which way this program is going to go. One thing we do know is if the Bruins want to have a great baseball program that is going to be competing with the best of the NCCAA, they are going to have to impress early. Playoffs or bust is not the mindset for this team heading into the year. Rather, they are hoping to set this program up for success down the road. If this team can even pull out a .500 campaign, that would be impressive in itself for a first year team. This could make recruiting a little bit easier for them down the line and this usually means some titles in the future.
