Courtesy of North Carolina Central Athletic Communications


DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central baseball program has seen its share of success on the field as a Division I program, and that success has also stretched to individual player development as six Eagles have signed contracts with Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises since 2015.
 
In total, there have been 14 Eagles who have advanced to play professionally, dating back to 2007 when Marcus Mack signed with the Utica Brewmasters.  Eric Kimber was the first Eagle to sign with an MLB organization when he was brought in as a pitching prospect for the Kansas City Royals in 2015, and then Andrew Vernon earned the honor of being the first MLB Draft selection in program history when he was picked by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2016.
 
In 2020, the program crossed a new threshold as multiple Eagles signed MLB contracts in the same year for the first time in program history. Carter Williams joined the San Francisco Giants as the club's first non-drafted free agent signing, and Shane Davis signed with the Baltimore Orioles as NCCU became the only non-Power Five Division I program in the state of North Carolina to have multiple players join MLB organizations.
 
Head coach Jim Koerner has been at the helm of the program since June 2011, and was excited to see the program achieve this milestone.
 
"To have two guys sign this year, it's a great feeling," Koerner said.  "It shows that the program keeps progressing and developing pro prospects.  I think we're doing a great job of identifying great athletes, and on top of that, great people.  Guys that want to work really hard, and perfect their craft.  They've applied all the resources we give them as a university and a baseball program, and they put it toward their baseball.  And you can see the results, it's really paid off."
 
Of the 14 Eagles who have advanced to the professional ranks, eight have been pitchers, starting with Michael Romano in 2013. Three have joined MLB organizations, including Devin Sweet who signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2018. Sweet has been making waves as he threw the first nine-inning complete game in West Virginia Power history at the Single-A level on July 28, 2019, and tossed a career-high 12 strikeouts in that outing.
 
Koerner attributes the success to the development of pitchers to the work the program has done in its training regimens.
 
"I believe the success is a combination of a lot of different facets, including what we do in the weight room," Koerner said. "This is a huge part of the athletic development of not only our pitchers, but position players. That goes along with what we do on the field, both from a physical standpoint of developing pitches and working on mobility, and deceleration exercises, and also the mental part of it. Learning how to attack hitters and working off our strengths, and improving weaknesses."
 
When Williams signed with the Giants in 2020 it marked another milestone for the Eagles, making the freshman class of 2017 the first in program history to produce two players to join MLB organizations, following Corey Joyce with the Detroit Tigers in 2019.  Both Williams and Joyce were named Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-Americans along with Jacob Raby in 2017, and Joyce also earned MEAC Rookie of the Year honors that campaign.
 
Koerner said it was the recruiting philosophy that allowed the program to bring in that special class.
 
"We're trying to recruit great athletes from a baseball standpoint," Koerner said. "We want guys that have 'projectability': good runners, big bodies where they can put on size and strength in the weight room, bat speed, physical tools that you need to play the game.
 
"I think Corey Joyce is a great example of that," Koerner continued. "Someone that was a great athlete when he came in, and was a plus-runner.  Throughout time and him buying in to the weight room process and what we do working out, he developed himself into a physical baseball player while increasing his running speed, his bat speed, and his power, and carrying that over into game results.  Now, he's stronger playing in the Detroit Tigers' farm system, and he's a physical baseball player now because he bought into that process."
 
The NCCU baseball program has been on a steady upward trend in recent years, as the Eagles captured a program-record 28 wins in the 2018 season, and has had multiple First Team All-MEAC selections in three of the last four campaigns. Along with that, an Eagle has earned a MEAC superlative award in three consecutive years, as Joyce was named MEAC Rookie of the Year in 2017, and followed that by being named MEAC Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019, and Ryan Miller garnered the MEAC Rookie of the Year title in the 2019 season as well.
 
Koerner said the program is just getting started, and that there's a bright future ahead.
 
"I really believe we're just scratching the surface of our potential," Koerner said. "There's growth within the university itself with all of the expansion projects going on around campus with the new residential halls and the new student union, and they're going to break ground on a new School of Business. These are all important factors into the overall student experience. And then you look at what we've done athletically with improvements to the weight room, McDougald-McLendon Arena, the training room, and the nutrition station within our weight room, there's a lot of growth going on within the university."
 
In 2020, the NCCU Department of Athletics celebrated its 10th anniversary of completing the transition from Division II to Division I, and in preparation of the move the baseball program was revived in 2007 to compete within the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). The Eagles played one season as a Division II team in the CIAA, and then spent four seasons as an independent.
 
The transition was a long road, but Koerner said the Eagles are now starting reap the fruits of their labor.
 
"We've only had a Division I baseball program for nine years," Koerner continued. "This is our 10th year anniversary of becoming a full-fledged Division I member, these things take time. It takes time to build a culture, it takes time to build a history and a tradition. I feel we're just getting to that point where we're going to see some really big jumps in our future production, both in wins, and in more guys getting signed and drafted, and having the opportunity to play professionally."
 
As the program prepares to write a new chapter in its history with its 10th season at the Division I level, and 14th since its revival, Koerner will continue to look to the coaching staff to help propel the program forward to new heights.  With the success that's already come for the program, he says it's the staff that has made the difference for the Eagles.
 
"We believe that athletes develop differently," Koerner said. "Everybody moves a little differently, and has a little different way of transferring energy and producing output on the baseball field. It's our job to find what makes that player the best they can be from an individual standpoint.
 
"We're not trying to cookie-cut our approach," Koerner said. "We don't want to see one type of swing or arm action. There's going to be an individuality in what we do, and it's our job as a staff to make sure that we're getting the most out of each one of our guys.
 
"We have seven guys on our coaching staff. We have a player development coach for our pitching staff, we have a player development coach for our position players; this goes along with myself, our current pitching coach, our assistant coach, and our volunteer coach. We feel like we have a lot of resources to get into these areas where a lot of mid-major programs might not be able to."