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The Champion, Thursday, June 18 - 24, 2015
SPORTS
Page 22A
Chamblee alums Brent and Chris Burgess are heading to Spartanburg, S.C., to play baseball at Spartanburg Methodist Junior College. Photo by Carla Parker
Burgess twins continue baseball
careers at Spartanburg Methodist
by Carla Parker
carla@dekalbchamp.com
More than 100 Spartanburg
Methodist Junior College baseball
players have played some form of
professional baseball, according to
the school’s website, and Brent and
Chris Burgess hope to add their
names to that list.
The Burgess twins, who recently
graduated from Chamblee Charter
High School, will continue their
baseball and academic careers in
Spartanburg, S.C. The twins said
Spartanburg Methodist is the right
fit for them.
“It’s better for us personally than
going to [a] Division 1 [school]
because we have a chance of being
one-and-done instead of going to a
D1 college and staying three years,”
Brent said. “Going to a junior col
lege, you can have that breakout
freshman year and get drafted. You
can have that breakout freshman
year at a Dl, but still have to wait
another two years, and those two
years could not be good and you can
drop in the draft poll.”
“SMC is one of the best [junior
college] programs in the nation,”
Chris added. “We’re very developed
and Spartanburg, S.C., has a very
good atmosphere. Brent and I fit
well in Spartanburg.”
Since their ninth-grade year,
the twins have been a focal point of
the Chamblee varsity baseball team.
Chris’ first at-bat his freshman year
was a home run to left center field—
a moment he will always remember.
“I was 14, facing an 18-year-old
kid [who was] throwing 92 [mph
balls] from Shiloh [High School],”
Chris said. “I just hit it to left cen-
, »
ter.
Brent’s baseball career stats at
Chamblee include a .305 batting
average, 65 RBIs, 22 doubles and 5
home runs. Chris had a .300 career
batting average, 50 RBIs, 21 doubles
and 6 home runs.
The twins helped lead Chamblee
to a playoff appearance last season
after a rough start. After a 1-11 start,
Chamblee went 10-4 to earn a spot
in the Class AAAA playoffs, the
team’s first playoff appearance since
2012.
Chamblee lost to Whitewater in
the first round. When the team was
1-11, Chris said he and his team
mates never gave up.
“We never folded; we never got
down on each other,” he said. “We
just kept picking each other up and
started winning. We started win
ning big games, and [Brent] came
in to pitch the big games. We didn’t
know that those games meant a lot
until later on in the season, when we
found out that if we lost that game it
would be no playoffs for us.”
Senior leadership from the twins
and the three other seniors on the
team also played a role in the turn
around.
“As seniors, we knew if we had
a spark, if we got [things] going,
the younger kids would follow us,”
Chris said. “I knew that if we set the
tone they would follow us.”
The twins were also productive
players on the football field, play
ing on both sides of the ball and on
special teams. The weight program,
competition and the speed of foot
ball helped improve the twins’ skills
on the baseball field.
“Our arms have gotten a lot
stronger,” Brent said. “Our gloves in
the infield got a lot smoother. You
can tell that our manpower is com
ing in more as we’re growing. It’s just
going to develop as we go on.”
“We cut down on the errors this
past summer,” Chris said. “I’m start
ing to track the ball better in the
outfield, where I can go to that spot
faster.”
The twins played in the county’s
all-star games for football and base
ball, and Brent won MVP of his
team in both games.
Although the twins never won a
state championship with Chamblee,
they became champions with the
East Cobb Astros 16U travel base
ball team. Last summer, East Cobb
won the Continental Amateur Base
ball Association (CABA) national
championship and the Perfect Game
Super 25 national championship.
“Last year, it was one of our
best experiences in baseball, ever,”
Chris said. “We traveled all over, we
played a lot of games—[nearly] 150
games and won two national cham
pionships out of every team in the
nation.”
“That helped me get better for
college,” Brent said about playing
with East Cobb. “Playing with that
team attracted a lot of scouts. A lot
of people come to our games.”
Before heading off to college,
the twins will play with the Georgia
Baseball Softball Academy (GBSA)
Blue Rays this summer.
At Spartanburg Methodist, the
twins will be less the 40 miles from
their brother Ryan, who plays foot
ball at Presbyterian College.
“My parents can kill two birds
with one stone in visiting,” Brent
said. “They can see all of us in one
time, and we can all come together.”
Ryan said he has been giving his
younger brothers advice on what to
expect at college.
“Stay consistent, because you’re
not the only one working,” Ryan
said. “It’s a million kids working.”
The twins plan to give 100 per
cent on the baseball field, but their
focus is on getting better in the
classroom.
See Brothers on page 23A