Bryce Bird looking for full college experience at Young Harris College
Another member of Heritage’s large and successful senior baseball class will continue his career in college.
Recent graduate Bryce Bird will be heading to northeast Georgia this fall to begin attending classes and getting set to play baseball for the Mountain Lions of Young Harris College.
“It’s a great feeling,” Bird said. “I know a lot of kids have the dream, but I’m going to get to live my dream and not just be a part of a baseball team. I’m looking forward to going to school there and the whole social aspect of it all. I think it’s a perfect fit for me.”
Bird, an outstanding student in the classroom, said he and his parents did their homework and looked at colleges that would be good matches for him on the academic side of the coin.
“My parents are very into the academic side of things and Young Harris has a really good biology program, which is what I want to study,” He explained. “But I also saw that they had a baseball camp. I went to it and had a good showing there and that piqued the interest of the new coaching staff up there. They said they liked what they saw and our conversations just took off from there.”
“First of all, Bryce is an outstanding student from an academic standpoint,” Heritage head coach Eric Beagles said. “You can’t ask for a better student than what Bryce has been here at Heritage. He takes a lot of honors and AP classes, so he knows what that workload is going to be and he’s shown he can handle the academic side of it as well as the athletic side of it. I have a tremendous amount of confidence that he’s going to go take it to that next level.”
Bird, who played catcher for the Generals, had a hand in four state playoff appearances during his time at Heritage, including an Elite Eight appearance and Final Four trips the past two seasons. He was also a part of two Region 6-AAAA championship clubs, one as a sophomore and again this past season.
“They are going to get someone who’s ready to go right off the bat,” Bird said. “I pride myself on working hard, both on and off the field, and I will do what it takes to make my team better and to help them win. I try to be a positive teammate, look at the bright side of things and be an encourager. I’ll be the first one at practice and the last one to leave because I know nothing is given to you at the college level.”
Beagles called Bird “the ultimate teammate”.
“He’s a guy that comes out here every day and works,” the coach added. “You don’t have to worry about getting him motivated. He’s self-motivated and that’s a good thing. We expect a lot out of our guys and he’s one of those guys that comes out here every day and puts the work in and is ready to go. He was such a good leader for our younger guys too. You’d see him pull the younger guys to the side and teach them and that’s what you want to see as a coach.
“You want to see your players instill in others what’s been instilled in them. That’s what really makes the culture of your program sustainable and he’s had a big role in that.”
Young Harris went 26-24 this past season and 15-15 in the Peach Belt Conference of NCAA Division II.