Grant Cochran will take the mound for Toccoa Falls College next baseball season.
Cochran is a 2022 Gilmer High graduate and the recruiting service Next College Student Athlete helped him land on the radar of college coaches. Toccoa was Cochran’s main suitor, and he settled on the Screaming Eagles after visiting their campus.
“The coaching staff is all super young and brand-new, which matches this class. They’re cleaning house, and this year they’ve got a lot of Georgia kids coming in. The last national championship they won was in 2013,” Cochran said.
“I got to see the waterfall, of course, when I visited and some classrooms and the chapel. We saw the baseball fields and facilities and the dining room and weight rooms. I got to meet the head coach and pitching coach, but the rest were out recruiting.”
Cochran also favors the small campus and class size, and TFC offers his major of choice.
“They have the teaching programs I want to go into,” he said. “I want to be a history teacher. Mr. Woodall at the high school, taking his class, he brought a new way of making it enjoyable, and I really like history. I want to be a coach, too.”
Cochran was on the diamond as soon as he could swing a bat, and hit the travel trail when he was 7 years old. Once in middle school he just played locally, but rejoined a travel team the summer before his senior season.
Last summer he played for Charlie Culberson Baseball and took the field for the Southwest Sox in 2022, which is affiliated with the Orioles.
“There’s a lot of talent in the program,” Cochran said of the Sox. “We’ve got a couple more scouts who are there, and they come in and help evaluate but also coach.”
The travel season takes place predominantly in the summer, and they play 40 to 50 games. Tournaments usually take place over a two- to three-day period, and his team practices three days per week when not playing games.
“The competition, every weekend you’re going against high-level competition, especially with the teams I’ve been on,” Cochran said when asked about the benefits of playing travel baseball. “Last year, we spent most of the summer at the Hoover, Ala., complex. We went down to Gulf Shores (Ala.) and Lake Point (Cartersville) for tournaments.”
He also helped get his name out to colleges by attending five showcases over the previous two falls where he was able to perform in front of scouts.
“You get to learn a lot because you’re out there with other kids who love baseball,” Cochran said. “You learn and pick up a lot of new stuff. There is some pressure with college coaches watching, but at the same time, you’re just playing.”
Gilmer High only played a handful of games in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the season. Cochran was a full-time varsity starter by his junior year. As a senior, GHS won 10 games and Cochran received an all-region honorable mention.
He was on the mound for 42 1/3 innings as a senior and earned a win and a save. He allowed 27 earned runs for a 4.46 ERA to go with 50 strikeouts and 26 walks.
“Playing here has been fun and enjoyable,” he said. “It’s been a lot of hard work at practices trying to build a program.”
Cochran throws three pitches and is looking to add another. His fastball topped out at 83 miles per hour this season, and he was consistently in the 79-82 range.
“I’m working on a fourth pitch,” he said. “I want to be able to get a slider, but right now it’s just a fastball, change-up and curve ball. My velocity typically picks up throughout a game, which is good.”
In regard to how he will be used at TFC, Cochran said, “Right now, they’re cleaning house. They started a lot of freshmen pitchers this past season. They don’t care if you’re a freshman or a senior. If you can pitch, they’ll start you or you’ll come out of the bullpen. I’d rather start, and if I’m coming out of the pen, I’d rather close.”
Cochran mentioned people who have helped him along the way on the baseball field saying, “My dad (William) had kind of been my coach since I was 3. Coach (Matt) Banks and coach (Jeff) Thurman (at GHS) have been big contributors to my success. Coach (Derek) Brewer was my pitching coach in middle school, and he taught me a lot about mechanics.
“My travel coaches have helped pick apart things I need to work on and help me focus on that aspect of my game.”
Cochran will play travel ball through July. He plans on continuing to work out and throw some bullpen sessions leading up to his enrollment in the fall.
“I’m looking forward to the competition at the next level and going against high-level guys,” he said. “I want to get some more exposure, and overall, I’m just looking forward to playing baseball while getting an education.”
TFC is a private Christian college, and the Screaming Eagles have won three National Christian College Athletic Association Division II national titles.