Baseball University? Rock Hill’s Legion Collegiate has 8 sign to play college sports
After introducing the six athletes that he’d known for years before coaching them in high school, Legion Collegiate Academy baseball coach Devon Lowery grabbed the microphone and said one last thing.
“These six guys who just signed, I had a relationship with every last one of them, from the time that they were probably 12 until now,” Lowery told a crowd of Legion parents and students as rain pelted the roof of K3 Sports Academy.
He added: “So whenever people in the community say that it’s recruitment, tell them relationships recruit. Thank you.”
The crowd gave a thunderous applause.
Legion Collegiate had eight athletes sign National Letters of Intent on Wednesday morning. Six of those eight were baseball players — who’d been receiving training from or knew Lowery, a former MLB player, since they were 8 or 9 years old. One was a softball player, who was introduced to the crowd by former Winthrop softball coach and Hall of Famer Mark Cooke. And one was a cyclist.
For Rock Hill’s newest public charter school, giving athletes the chance to play college sports is one of its primary purposes. The school has a clear emphasis on athletics — one demonstrated by its schedule, which keeps students inside a classroom for about half the school day, and lets the students train on the field or on the court or in the weight room for the rest of the school day.
“I got goosebumps on my arms,” Legion principal TK Kennedy told the crowd after watching the eight athletes sign. “This (school) was just a thought and a prayer. There was nothing there. And you guys trusted in what we were saying, what we were selling. You showed up. And you’re here now. It’s unbelievable.”
Legion, which is in its second year of existence, has drawn criticism from those who think it has tried to recruit the best athletic talent from schools in York County since its inception. And as a result, Legion has had a difficult time renting facilities to train in and finding teams who’ll play the Lancers in various sports, The Herald has previously reported.
The school has even been involved in a lawsuit against the South Carolina High School League. The lawsuit stated that two amendments passed by the league “intentionally and illegally” discriminated against SC private and charter schools. Under one of said amendments, most students who transfer from a traditional school to a charter or private school would have to sit out a year before they would be eligible to play for their respective athletic teams. (In June, a Richland County judge ruled in favor of the private and charter schools, granting them an injunction that effectively pushed back the two amendments and prevented them from going into effect for the 2020-21 year.)
But despite all this, Legion has made good on its promise to parents in most of its sports — and it’s especially delivered in baseball. After this year, Legion will have sent 10 of its 11 graduates who played LCA baseball to college baseball programs. (The one who didn’t play in college chose to attend The Citadel as a “regular student,” Lowery said.)
“The kids want something different,” Lowery told reporters after the signing ceremony. “You know the public school aspect of going to school for eight hours, having class, and having three hours of class that you really don’t need or want to take. Being able to knock out your core classes here and then work on your craft, and being able to use a place like K3, and having a facility to lift weights, and to work on your game for another three hours — that’s something kids want.”
Meet the 8 Legion Collegiate signees
Each signee shared a bit of their story to reporters after signing their letters of intent on Wednesday.
Kollin Crepeau signed to Francis Marion to play baseball. His brother plays at Winthrop University now: “It feels amazing just to know that everything that I’ve worked for as a young kid has paid off,” Crepeau said. “And I’ve been following (Kolby) ever since I was young. Him and my dad really got me going (in baseball) when I was young.”
Ryan Deal hit Legion Collegiate’s first home run in school history last season. He signed to Erskine on Wednesday: “I just loved how convenient it was,” Deal said of Legion. “We practice for baseball during the mornings, and then we’ll switch to the afternoons in the second semester. So that’s been very convenient with me and my classes, and I’ve been able to worry less about multi-tasking and more on one (thing). So that’s been very helpful for me.”
Parker Helm has known Lowery since he was 8 years old. He earned Lowery’s admiration for playing bigger than he was, his coach said: “State championship, we’re winning that,” Helm said. “Yes, we’re taking that.”
Cody Craig signed to play baseball at Florence-Darlington Technical College. His brother, Logan, is now playing golf at Spartanburg Methodist: “Ever since I was a little kid, I watched him play baseball,” Craig said, pointing to his brother. “And he was my big inspiration ever since. So I went from All-Stars to travel baseball. … It’s honestly amazing for all of us because I grew up with half of these kids all my life, and just seeing all of us going to college together and graduating at the same time together has just been amazing for all of us.”
Hunter Fryzowicz signed to play baseball at UNC Asheville. His coach laughed about his positivity when he said Fryzowicz has “never had a bad at-bat”: “I’ve known Devon since I was a little kid,” Fryzowicz said. “In middle school, I remember in one game he walked the dude in front of me in the seventh inning to get to me. And then (the pitcher) threw a fastball, and I hit a walk-off ball down the line. And ever since then, (Devon) and I have been super close. He’s done pitching lessons for me. I don’t pitch anymore, but he’s also done hitting lessons for me, and he’s just always been there for me.”
Colby Guy signed to play baseball at N.C. Central. He credited his father and his family for pushing him to be the best he could be in the sport: “It feels great,” Guy said. “I know we have the best players in Rock Hill. We have the best players in Rock Hill, no doubt. And everyone is going to come around us so we can win a state championship this year.”
Reagan Smith signed to play softball at Newberry. She became the first-ever Legion softball player to sign to play in college in program history: “One of my friends came here (to Legion), and I heard it was a big sports school, so I just wanted to come here,” Smith said, adding, “I used to take hitting lessons with Coach Cooke, and I knew that he was going to be the coach, so that was exciting.”
Phillip Ford signed to join the cycling program at Brevard College. Legion lacrosse coach Parker Thomas said Legion is also meant for athletes like Ford, who can use the flexible school schedule to train on their own or with their own trainers.
‘I would say it’s different’
Before Lowery left to go back to the school’s campus, he was asked by a reporter if he’d consider Legion “Baseball University” — considering all the talent it has had in the past two years.
Lowery smiled but shook his head.
“I wouldn’t say it’s ‘Baseball University,’ I would say it’s different,” Lowery said. “That’s the word I would use. I wouldn’t want to call it a university. I would say it’s a place you could come and develop your baseball skill for those three or four months of high school baseball without having to use a travel ball organization to be the platform.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 3:18 PM.
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