ROCKINGHAM — Touted as a potential Division I baseball prospect when he took the field as a starter his freshman year, Camron Seagraves officially has his college career lined up.
The Richmond Senior High School junior announced last month that he had verbally committed to Campbell University as a pitcher.
On Aug. 8, he tweeted “I’m extremely excited to announce that I will be continuing my athletic and academic career at Campbell University! I want to thank God for this opportunity. I’d also like to thank everyone who has been a part of this!”
With his verbal commitment, Seagraves became just the fourth Richmond baseball player in the last dozen years to make it to the Division I level. Drew Butler also played at Campbell (2013), and Ricky Holden went to UNCW (2010).
Ethan Baucom, who graduated from Richmond in 2015, played most of his career at UNCP (Division II) before transferring to UNCW as a graduate student.
Always a dream of his to climb the ranks of high school, and now college baseball, Seagraves said the recruiting process was a quick one.
“This has always been a dream of mine and it happened a lot faster than I thought it would over the summer,” Seagraves said. “I knew I was good at baseball, but I didn’t expect DI schools to look at me this early. It’s a great accomplishment.
“Being committed now takes a lot of stress of me this year not having to worry where I’m going to school,” he added. “I’m super excited to get on campus and play college baseball.”
Seagraves received his first offer from Campbell on June 24 and made his decision following an unofficial visit to Buies Creek in early August.
He also had interest from UNC, N.C. State and Stanford, with UNCW also putting an official offer on the table.
“Campbell showed a lot of interest in me from the beginning and I built a good bond with their pitching coach and head coach,” Seagraves explained. “I went on a campus tour and I really liked the campus.
“I’d also played there before and I really like the facilities. Campbell is well-respected for its pitching program and our director at C35 Baseball said it was a top-tier program in the state.”
A two-year starter at Richmond, Seagraves has played several positions for the Raiders. He’s emerged as the team’s No. 1 pitcher and has also played third base and the outfield.
Following his sophomore season this past spring, Seagraves was named to his first All-Sandhills Athletic Conference team.
As a sophomore, Seagraves led the Raiders in innings pitched (42.2 innings), wins (5), ERA (1.64) and strikeouts (43). The right-handed hurler used an arsenal of pitches to silence opposing batters, including a four-seam fastball, curveball, slider and changeup.
At the plate for Richmond in 2022, Seagraves batted .258 with 17 hits, including tying teammate Cameron Way with five doubles to lead the team. He drove in 10 RBIs, scored 11 runs and stole 10 bases as part of a second-round playoff appearance for the Raiders.
Seagraves has also played in the BodyArmor State Games the past two summers, with his regional team making the gold bracket championship game this year (not played due to weather).
On top of his success at Richmond, Seagraves plays travel baseball for C35, which is based in Moore County. That organization is directed by Rob Wooten, a former MLB pitcher.
Campbell, which is coached by Justin Haire, finished the 2022 season with a 41-19 overall record.
The Camels won the Big South Conference championship tournament over Charleston Southern, and played three games in the NCAA Knoxville Regional Tournament.
With two more years ahead of him at Richmond, Seagraves said he wants to dial in and improve as a pitcher and overall player.
“I want to work hard the next two seasons to develop my craft as a pitcher,” Seagraves said. “I don’t want to be able to just throw hard, but I want to get better with my mechanics and get faster on the field.
“I’d like to thank my parents for all of their support,” he closed. “Rob Wooten helped with getting my name to Campbell, and so did Rob (Ransom). I’d also like to thank all of my coaches at Richmond and C35.”
