Thurmond selected for Under Armour National Team

Local Toccoa resident 11-year-old Craig Thurmond II, has made the Under Armour, Baseball Factory, National Middle School Team.

Thurmond was the only baseball player selected from Georgia for the National Team.

He told WNEG News about what he recently learned in playing for the national team.

“I learned so much on this trip,” Thurmond said. “I had to keep track of time and places to be for class or practice and learned so much more about hitting with new drills. I experienced how a professional spring training event is for the major league players. I learned how much my grades can affect my chances at playing in college and the major leagues and I learned that being the smallest guy on the team is not a bad thing if you give your best and work hard.”

After a successful tryout, Thurmond was selected to attend Spring Training at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida.

On Jan. 10, Thurmond left for Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida to participate in his first National Baseball Factory event.

During the spring training event, Thurmond was given the chance to train with professional and minor league coaches and college and pro scouts.

The training consisted of mental preparation, the importance of education in recruiting, daily baseball drills and several tournament style games.

As a member of this team, stats will be kept all through middle and high school and Thurmond will have his own coordinator throughout his baseball career with Baseball Factory until college.

There will be continuous evaluations in preparation for scouts to review as he grows and further develops his baseball skills.

Playing for this team has given Thurmond the chance to be able to play with and against some of the best players and teams in the country and will be coached by a professional baseball staff.

On the final day of spring training, three awards were given out.

The Hustle Award, the Coaches Award and the MVP (most valuable player) were awarded to 3 out of 42 players on the national team.

Thurmond was awarded MVP by the coaching staff.