Ask new Rome High School Baseball Coach Trevor Proctor how he feels about taking over the program, and his face lights up, and he can’t wait to start talking.
“I'm really excited for it. We’ve got a great group of guys coming in and returning. We were a young group last year. We had a few seniors starting out that we're gonna miss. They played key roles for us,” he says. “We’ve got some young guys that we're gonna need to step up and take advantage of those opportunities of getting to play.”
Proctor, who is the softball coach for Rome High and served as an assistant baseball coach as well, has a long history with the program and Rome City Schools.
“I'm excited. It's a program that I was a part of. I went to East Central and went to Rome Middle School. I got to be a part of it as a Rome Middle School baseball player and got to play with the high school guys as an eighth grader,” Proctor says. “The program means something to me. I'm going to pour my heart and soul into it because it's something that I was a part of, and I want to see it excel.”
The baseball squad has had a couple of tough seasons, having to compete in very difficult regions, but this year’s squad won more games than last.
“I know there's an expectation with it, and I want to make sure we're achieving that expectation day in and day out,” Proctor says. “We’ve got a great program. We just need to build off our past success and move forward.We went from three wins last year to nine wins this year, so we're heading in the right direction. We want to be in the playoffs. We want to be fighting for a region championship,” he says. “Whenever we hit the field, there's a golden standard. There's a standard of play that should be expected.”
Proctor also talks about wanting to develop players into more than just baseball players.
“I want all my guys whenever you ask them what their goal is for them to say they want to be able to go and play at the next level in college. I don't want them to go to college for one year and just hang it up, I want them to be there for four years,” he says. “I think you can establish a good relationship with the college coaches whenever you have players that can go in and do that, and that’s what we want to do.”
Along with that, Proctor wants his players to present themselves well.
“I'm preparing them to go to the next level. The biggest thing is I want my guys to not only be prepared for college but also present themselves well too,” Proctor says. “When our guys are out in the community, I want people to see them and say, ‘they're very professional.’”