A senior season in which he became Polk County’s frontline starter gave Konner Scruggs hope that he might be able to continue his baseball career in college.
As regular season turned to playoffs and then end of season with no opportunities present, though, Scruggs began to think that perhaps that goal might be out of reach.
At least until Thursday, when with a single stroke of a pen, Scruggs turned his vision into reality, signing a national letter-of-intent with Limestone College as friends and family looked on in Polk County’s library. He became the 12th Polk County senior to sign a letter-of-intent.
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“It’s what I’ve always wanted to do,” Scruggs said. “It’s a dream come true.
“I gave up trying, but then one of their coaches emailed me and I got back into the spirit. It made me want to go out and play again.”
Scruggs will have the chance to do just that with the Division II Saints, who finished 15-27 overall, 10-14 in Conference Carolinas play this season. Based in Gaffney, S.C., Limestone will also be just an hour’s drive for Scruggs’ family. The program is led by head coach Chris Wiley, who developed three Major League Baseball draftee pitchers while serving as the school’s pitching coach.
“He’s the most improved pitcher from one season to the next that I’ve seen,” said Polk County head coach Ty Stott. “He took the ball a lot of times when his arm wasn’t ready to take the ball. That says a lot.”
En route to earning a spot on the all-Western Highlands Conference team, Scruggs finished 5-3 this season, but Stott noted he might easily have had another win or two with more run support. Pitching coach Josh Money pointed to a late March game against Mountain Heritage, in which Scruggs struck out 13 batters in a 3-1 loss despite facing the Cougars for the second time in a week, as one of the highlights of the season.
“He wasn’t going to be told no,” Money said. “He had a will to succeed as much as he wanted to breathe. Like Coach Stott said, he never complained, or if he did, he didn’t complain to us.”
Scruggs, who plans to major in physical education, is just glad to finally have his future plans in place.
“I went to visit them two days ago, and that’s when they offered me,” he said. “I’m just relieved it all worked out.”
“He’s got an opportunity in front of him that a lot of kids would like to have,” Stott said. “What he does with it will affect the rest of his life.
“He’s not lucky, he’s fortunate to have that opportunity. But he did his part to earn that chance.”
