Greene finished his junior campaign hitting .531 with 15 home runs, 51 RBI and 18 stolen bases. So far this season, Greene has eight home runs, 29 RBI and 10 stolen bases.
Greene’s most vital skill is his offense. He is considered one of the premier hitters in Georgia and perhaps the United States. According to baseballrumormill.com, he “has as much physical power as any kid in America. He can hit balls out of sight.” Nix readily admits that Greene is primarily a hitter, but that doesn’t mean he’s one-dimensional. He holds down center field and does an excellent job defensively, especially considering this is only his second year in the outfield. Greene has very good speed and can track balls hit in any direction. His arm is strong and accurate, and he patrols center with confidence.
Last year’s Rebels rewrote the record book from an offensive standpoint. They went 24-5 and advanced to the state playoffs. Berrien tallied 41 home runs as a team, hit .371 and set the record for most RBI. But their season ended prematurely, and they all feel like they have some unfinished business. Berrien lost in the second round of the playoffs to Toombs County. Despite their potent lineup, the Rebels were a little short on pitching. “That hurt us. We didn’t do well pitching-wise. But we laid a nice foundation with last year’s team and we hope to build on that success this year,” says Nix.
Greene has a very specific set of goals: he wants to end his high school career with region and state championships. That won’t be easy with the Rebels in the same region as perennial powerhouse Cook County. But Greene believes in his teammates and his coach. “We’ve got a lot of people back. I want a region title and a state championship,” he says.
When Greene was a junior, he started thinking about his future in baseball. He realized he would likely have the chance to play college baseball. It was just a question of where. He ended all the speculation in January by signing with Chipola College in Marianna, Florida. He says he chose the Indians because they have a very good baseball program and he feels his game will improve in that program.
Something else at is at stake for Greene – his draft status. At least one scouting organization, baseballscoutz.com, has Greene as the number-two prospect in Georgia (behind Dwight Smith Jr., son of former Atlanta Brave Dwight Smith Sr.) and a potential first-round draft pick. Greene is well aware of the attention and the potential distractions that could result. First-round money usually brings with it a very lucrative guaranteed sum, the kind that, if managed properly, can set up a young man for life.
Greene chooses not to worry about such things and directs his focus on helping Berrien win baseball games. “I’m not worried about the draft. I’ll let that take care of itself. My mom always tells me not to worry about all that. She tells me to just go out and play my game,” he says.
Nix believes Greene has Major League potential. “With the God-given ability he has, he can make it big-time. He can be an impact player in the major leagues. He has a great family, good grades and a good attitude. Larry has all the tools he needs to succeed at the next level and beyond,” he says.
Pitts is in a situation very similar to Greene’s. He has ascended to the elite levels of high school baseball, and like Greene, Pitts has already inked a college scholarship, effectively taking away one more distraction in a senior year full of outside interference.
Pitts also has the privilege of playing for his father, Craig Pitts, an assistant with the Colquitt program. Craig Pitts recalls the early years of his son’s baseball career, back when he was just learning how to play the game. “We just started playing in the backyard. He was about five years old when he began,” says Craig Pitts. He has watched his son transform from a little kid chasing a ball with a bat to one of the best players in the state. “He’s really improved over the years. It’s been fun to watch,” he says.
Pitts is an all-around athlete who chooses to focus on baseball. When he played football several years ago, he was quarterback. His skill set should have fit nicely into the pass-happy offense of Rush Propst had he chosen to play football. Pitts wasn’t interested, and instead turned his attention to baseball, though he did play basketball for a few years at Colquitt. “I just love everything about baseball. I love hitting and I love throwing. It’s just something I love to do,” Cole Pitts says.
Cole Pitts is a first baseman and pitcher who has also played third base, mainly on his travel teams. Most scouts have him figured for a pitcher at the next level, though Pitts does just about everything for the Packers. “He’s a player for us. He’s a dominating presence on the mound but he is critical to our success in a lot of areas. He is solid defensively, he can handle the bat well. He can do whatever he wants to do at the next level,” says Colquitt head coach Tony Kirkland.
Pitts’s stat line for the 2011 season shows his versatility. He’s batting .357 with two home runs and six RBI, along with a 1-0 pitching record and 0.77 ERA.
Everyone – from the fans to the players and the coaches – has high hopes for 2011. Colquitt hasn’t been much of a factor in Region 1-AAAAA baseball in the last few years, but that appears to be changing. Under second-year head coach Tony Kirkland, the Packers are considered frontrunners for the region title. “In the past, we’ve just been an average team. But we have a different vibe this year. The players are all talking more and the practices are upbeat. We’ve bought into Coach Kirkland’s system and there’s just a better atmosphere,” says Pitts, who believes Colquitt can win the region. “I think we have the team to do it. This team can hit and throw. I think we can make a long run in the state playoffs.”
Pitts has known for the last several years that he would play in college but he wasn’t sure where. He was thinking junior college or maybe Division II. Then last summer, he hit 90 miles per hour on the radar gun. Letters from Division I schools started coming in. After weighing his options carefully, Pitts decided to attend Georgia Tech. He visited Tech and the University of Georgia on two separate occasions each but ultimately decided upon the Ramblin’ Wreck. He liked the atmosphere and, of course, the tradition of the Georgia Tech baseball program. “Georgia was really nice but I just loved Tech,” he says.
When he arrives at Tech, Pitts’s role will be that of a starting pitcher. He loves all facets of the game but his heart is in pitching. Pitts uses a four-pitch arsenal: a fast ball, cutter, curve and change-up. He has great command of all four pitches and can use any one of them to strike out batters. He loves his change, which he tosses to the plate at about 77 mph. When the change follows Pitts’s 90 mph fast ball, it’s lethal, particularly to high school hitters. “When I need an out, I use the change,” he says.
Pitts loves the one-on-one challenge of staring down a batter and going right after him. He wants the ball and the game in his hands. “I don’t get rattled in big games. I love being in command on the mound. I always try to give it my best,” he says.
It might be hard to top Pitts’s freshman debut with Colquitt County. In that first game, he went 3-5 with a home run and a double. Then he stepped to the mound and closed out the game with three innings of relief. As impressive as that performance was, his biggest baseball moment came on the mound while he was playing for Team Georgia in Oklahoma last year. Team Georgia faced squads comprised of some of the best baseball players in the country in last summer’s Sunbelt Classic in McAlester, Oklahoma. Pitts and his teammates played 10 games in one week, and came away with the championship. Pitts threw the last three innings of the championship game against a very good Tennessee team. He gave up no runs, just one hit and struck out four to preserve the 5-4 win for Team Georgia and earn Most Valuable Pitcher honors.
As solid as Pitts is on the baseball field, his grades have as much to do with him going to Tech as his athleticism. He is a merit graduate and will finish at Colquitt with an A average. When he gets to Tech, he plans to major in a field that will lead him into coaching. Pitts would love to coach baseball or basketball and remain around either game as long as he possibly can. But those plans could be altered a little depending on what happens in the upcoming baseball draft. Pitts is listed as one of the players to watch, and he will almost certainly be selected. But a Georgia Tech education is valuable, and it would have be good money to lure him from Atlanta.
Pitts seems more interested in playing for Georgia Tech than going pro – at least right now. “It would have to be a good pick in the high rounds. I love Georgia Tech and I really want to go. I know I will get better if I do,” he says.
Kirkland doesn’t offer much insight into what his ace will do. He believes that’s better left up to his family. “He had some tough decisions to make when all the colleges started looking at him last year. And he’s going to have some tough decisions again later this summer. But I think you will see him in pro ball at some time in the future,” Kirkland says. •
Robert Preston Jr. 
Micki K Photography 
