Former West Marion pitcher and Pearl River Community College sophomore Trace McNabb had his dream extended Wednesday. The 6-foot, 185-pound righty signed with Southeastern (La.) to further his baseball career and advance to the Division I level.
Despite being in the Southland Conference, the Lions regularly play bigger schools like LSU, Mississippi State, Tulane and Southern Miss and played Oklahoma State in 2019 as well.
“It’ll be definitely like playing out a dream (on that stage),” McNabb said. “It’s becoming, under coach Matt Riser, a big program. They’re winning every year. I’m excited to play at some of those places and just as excited to get there and play there.”
He said it was exciting to sign on signing day alongside six of his Pearl River teammates. He said the culture at Southeastern fit him really well because he sees a lot of himself in the program.
“It’s so similar to Pearl River, and Pearl River is what got me the opportunity to be there with the way we work and push ourselves. It’s literally like a bigger Pearl River down there the way everybody pushes themselves. They play harder than anybody I’ve ever seen at that level of play, and that’s why I think I’ll fit in pretty well.”
Pearl River is known for its ability to get players to the next level with its top-notch strength and conditioning program that helped Marion County-bred players Colby White and Wiley Cleland transform their bodies. Both added significant amounts of muscle that led them to the Tampa Bay Rays and Louisiana-Monroe, respectively, and McNabb’s journey has been no different.
McNabb said he’s added about 15 pounds since arriving in Poplarville and has had his velocity jump from the low 80s to now topping out at 89 miles per hour.
“There’s no doubt I feel like that if I had went to any other school that I had offers from out of high school that I don’t think this would’ve happened,” he said. “No. 1 that’s just the way the coaching staff is here. These coaches push you harder than anybody. They set a level of expectation for you that’s really hard, but if you’re willing to put that aside and say ‘I’m willing to do everything they ask’ you’ll get where you want to go.”
McNabb added that when he got to PRCC that he was far from one of the better players on the team and that being around players better than him motivated him to work harder to get on their level.
“That’s what got me here today,” he said.
While the added velocity has helped, it’s McNabb’s breaking ball that got him noticed by college scouts.
“Every coach that I talked to that I had offers from, they told me ‘We hadn’t seen a breaking ball like this. This one is pretty special.’ I can throw it at any time, and they really liked that,” he said.
His breaking ball has the velocity of a slider around 80 mph but with the movement and bite of an elite curveball.
McNabb’s decision came down to Southeastern and Memphis, and he said while he really liked Memphis, Southeastern fit him better.
“Coming from where I come from, I’m just a country boy,” he said. “It’s a huge city up there, and I’m not saying I didn’t like that. But down there in Hammond at Southeastern was a little bit closer to home and more what I’m used to.”
McNabb credited his parents, Joe and Tammy McNabb, for helping get to this point, and he said that his dad instilled the work ethic in him that he wouldn’t have made it this far without. He added West Marion head coach Derrick Jerkins has been helping him throughout the whole process. White, who McNabb works out with, guided him through it, too. He said Greg Sanders has been a big help as well, along with his coaches at Pearl River, but there’s one that stands above the rest.
“The good Lord has placed me here. He’s put me in situations I may not always think that’s right at the time, but they turned out to put me here so they were obviously right,” he said.
McNabb made eight appearances out of the bullpen last season with the Wildcats and struck out 13 batters in 10 2/3 innings with a 6.75 ERA. He still has his sophomore campaign coming up at PRCC and is expected to be one of the top relief options this season.
Southeastern has made the NCAA Tournament six times with three recent trips in 2014, 2016 and 2017. The Lions have appeared in the College World Series once in 1975.
The Lions went 33-27 last season and were eliminated in Southland Conference semifinals in an extra-innings loss to Central Arkansas. n
