ROCKINGHAM – For over a year, it’s been a goal of Alex Anderson’s to attend a top-notch research university while being able to continue his baseball career. And all of those dreams came to fruition for the Richmond Senior High School senior earlier this month.
As first reported by ROSports last Thursday, Anderson made his verbal commitment to play baseball for Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. Noted as the country’s “first research university,” Johns Hopkins is comprised of nine different schools with over 260 programs dedicated to medicine, engineering, business and education.
“I’m very excited about committing,” Anderson said in an ROSports exclusive interview. “I was getting ready for school in the beginning of September — it was before my RCC (Richmond Community College) class, and I got an email.
“I could only read the first line of the email, and when I opened it up I saw I was getting the offer,” he recalled. “I went to my mom and told her I had good news, and she read it. It’s very satisfying (to commit) — it’s a school I’ve wanted to go to for over a year.”
Knowing that he wants to pursue a career in medicine, Anderson’s journey to JHU started last October, when he scored a 34 on the American College Testing (ACT) standardized test, two points away from a perfect score. He retook the test this past spring, and improved his score to a 35.
Currently, Anderson is second in the RSHS graduating class of 2019, as he boasts a 4.7308 GPA. He plans to enter the medical field, although currently, he’s undecided on which area he’d like to major in.
“I’m not sure right now,” Anderson grinned. “One week it’s one thing, and the next week it’s another. Johns Hopkins has an open curriculum, so I’ll start with that, and I’d preferably like to be a doctor of some kind. They have great facilities and it’s one of the best schools to go to in the country.”
Also last fall, Anderson’s travel ball coach, John Ennis of Carolina Baseball Center (CBC) in Charlotte, suggested that he take a look at JHU’s program. Anderson attended a baseball camp at the Blue Jays’ facilities in Baltimore last October, and said he also took a campus tour, which he “really enjoyed.”
“I kept in touch with the coaches, and in late July this year, they did evaluation of me at a Headfirst (Honor Roll) baseball camp in New York,” he noted. “It was very positive, and on the way back home, we met at Hopkins again.
“That’s when I sent in my pre-read information, and after it came back, Coach (Bob) Babb told me he’d like for me to be a Blue Jay next year,” Anderson added.
Anderson celebrates a double during a summer league game at Union Pines High School.
According to a JHU report, the University only accepted about 10 percent of over 29,000 students who applied for the class of 2022. And while he hasn’t received his official acceptance letter yet, things are looking good for Anderson.
“Even though I haven’t been accepted yet, I’m applying for early decision,” he explained. “That deadline is Nov. 15, so I should know by mid-December. The way I got the offer was by having admissions do a pre-read on my test scores, which came back positive, and that’s a good sign for being accepted.”
A Division III program, the Blue Jays are coached by 39-year Johns Hopkins veteran Bob Babb, who is credited with making the program a contender to compete in the College World Series. He’s won 1,108 games during his tenure, the most in program history, with the Blue Jays going 29-14 this past spring, finishing tied for first with Swathmore College in the Centennial Conference standings. JHU fell to Swathmore 4-3 in the conference championship.
The Blue Jays, a program that’s been around since 1887, lead the Centennial Conference with 10 career conference championships, and have made three CWS appearances. The most recent was in 2010, but the program’s best finish came in 2008, when the Blue Jays finished as the D-III runner up, falling to Trinity College (Hartford, Conn.).
Since the Blue Jays are D-III, no scholarship money is allotted for student-athletes.
“They’re pretty good at baseball,” Anderson expressed. “I’m being recruited as both an infielder and an outfielder. And they have top-notch facilities — it’s one of the best schools in the country to play D-III baseball. I should have a good chance to win a College World Series — and I like to win.”
As a junior this past spring, Anderson acted as head coach Ricky Young’s leadoff hitter and center fielder. In 25 games played, Anderson collected a .271 batting average, with 16 hits, seven RBIs and one double. He also stole 13 bases (third-best on the team), and had 18 putouts and a .947 fielding percentage.
Over the summer, during Richmond’s play in the Central Carolina Scholastic Summer League, Anderson was an integral part of the Rattlers’ 11-3 season.
“I’d like to thank Ricky Young, Ralph Butler, Rob Ransom, Alan Puckett and Henry McDuffey for coaching me over the years,” Anderson concluded.
ROSports will publish a follow up of Anderson’s signing day, which is yet to be decided at this time.
