Approaching his senior year with the MiltonHigh School baseball team, Chance Shell has already made plans for where he will play baseball next by recently signing a full-ride baseball scholarship with the Alabama Southern Community College.
“I feel like this is a good fit for me,” Shell said. “I like the campus. It’s nice and small, which is how I like it.”
In addition to following in the footsteps of several of his family members in playing baseball for the Eagles, Shell also wants to pursue a degree in sports medicine.
He looks to make an immediate impact at Alabama Southern upon arrival.
“I just want to do what I do best and help them win. Whatever they want me to do I will do it,” he said.
Daniel Head, the coach for the Eagles baseball team, said Shell will help fill a void in the team’s roster.
“We are losing three of our outfielders on this year’s team,” he said. “So we definitely need some impact players to come in.”
Like with the MHS Panthers, Head said the Eagles could also use Shell on the pitcher’s mound.
“He is a baseball player, a guy we think can come in and play for us right away,” Head said. “He is a great kid and a hard worker. That is what you are looking for in a student athlete.”
MHS Baseball Coach George Blake said Shell instantly made an impact when running bases for the varsity team as a freshman to how he has contributed at bat.
“(Shell) has been a big impact in our program and how he handles himself on the field,” Blake said.
Due to health issues involving abdominal pain last season, Shell had a limited role with the Panthers. This season, Shell is looking make up for lost time.
“I want to use this season to redeem myself and to show (the team) that even though I did go through an illness that I can actually play and show them what I can do ,” he said.
Shell said he is “100 percent” ready for the upcoming season, adding he has been in preparing for his final season by working out and practicing since Thanksgiving.
With the success Shell has previously shown on the field, Blake is expecting a breakout season from the senior player.
“I believe he is one of our top hitters in the program…he going to give you a chance at the plate,” Blake said.
Blake also anticipates Shell making a difference on the mound and in the outfield.
In his final season with the Panthers, Shell wants his team to win a district championship.
“If we could win district and win a district championship and bring it back here to Milton that would be great,” Shell said. “Our work ethic is very well and I think we have a chance to do it.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Baseball: Milton's Shell opts for Alabama Southern