Cardinals to Add Baseball in Year II

St. Michael will begin a baseball program in the school's second year.

The decision follows a commitment of parents of 16 student-athletes to attend the school and place their children in the baseball program, assuring that there will be enough enthusiasm and interest to field a team.

Those student-athletes are: Patrick Murphy, Trevor Helper, Tanner Volovecky, Sam Volovecky , Britton Cooper, Graham Roh, Bartee Baumhauer, William Ford, Grant Murray, Michael Bradford, Nathan Long, Gavin Faircloth, Aidan Macks, Ben Gambill, Thomas Gambill and Austin Nix.

"We're happy about this," remarks Athletic Director, Paul Knapstein. "Baldwin County is known for its baseball, and we have a number of younger kids in our system who have excelled in it. We're looking forward to having them join us and begin to build something special here. "

The announcement about baseball follows an earlier announcement that in Year I, St. Michael will host JV football, volleyball, basketball (men's and women's) and soccer (men's and women's).

"Eventually, we want to host all the sports that are traditionally part of a 4A athletic program, " Knapstein continues, "but we have to be smart about it, growing our athletic program as our school grows. Because we're now one 'system,' we can play up 7th and 8th graders from CTK, St. Patrick's and St. Benedict if they make the team, so that will help us in the non-contact sports. By our third year, we're committed to having a minimum of five varsity sports for men and women per AHSAA requirements, so we think the decision about baseball in our second year is a prudent step in that direction. I am grateful to the families who have committed, and invite more families to do the same."

If you want to add your name publicly to the list above, send Coach Knapstein an email and we'll update this article (stmichaelathleticdirector@gmail.com)