Pictured is Easley High School senior Aaron Tolbert (middle, black shirt) with his baseball teammates on college signing day.
Photo courtesy of Alicia Tolbert
Senior catcher Aaron Tolbert (middle) is pictured in pregame with the Easley pitching staff.
Photo courtesy of Alicia Tolbert
EASLEY — You can be named the Most Valuable Player on a team or the Most Improved — both are great honors.
But beyond that, it’s another level to be called “The Dude” on a team. Especially, on the Easley High School baseball team.
Senior Aaron Tolbert has earned that title of “The Dude”and he’ll be continuing his baseball career at USC Sumter.
The sky is the limit for the potential of Tolbert at catcher and he’s looking forward to soon playing college baseball.
“I just love the coaches there (at Sumter),” Tolbert said. “I love it. The junior college is definitely the place for me. I’m not as big as others and I’ve got two years to develop, and that’s where I want to be.”
At press time, Tolbert had started all 24 games this season for the Green Wave and his stat line was: .370 batting average (27-of-73), 15 runs, six doubles, 15 RBIs, 11 walks, seven strikeouts.
“He can run, he can throw and he can hit for power,” said EHS coach Gill Payne. “I wish he was about 6-2 … he’d probably be a draft guy.”
Continued Coach Payne, “He (Tolbert) came here to Easley when we didn’t have many options at catcher. Cooper (Sears) was probably the guy we were looking at as a freshman. Tolbert came in and won the job. His sophomore year was a learning stage for him with the speed and he got better, but the jump he made from his sophomore to junior year was a game changer for that Upper State team.”
Uniquely, Tolbert does have some foot-speed as a catcher and he is currently 15-for-15 in stolen bases this season.
“He’s definitely the best runner I’ve had as a catcher,” Payne said, after a recent game. ”He hit the ball to the shortstop and beat it out, and it wasn’t even close.”
Tolbert, at 5-foot-7 and 170 pounds, started at fullback for the Green Wave football team this past season and had over 1,000 all-purpose yards.
“He (Tolbert) is a football player and I love those guys,” Payne said. “I love when you get the football guys playing baseball because you get that toughness side of it. They are prepared for the mental side of it and he brings all that.”
Academically, Tolbert is in the top 15 percent of his class. He has also earned the Life Scholarship Award, which was based on his 4.7 grade point average and his ACT scores.
Last week, the Easley baseball team lost a hard-fought 2-0 decision to Travelers Rest.
Shortly after the game, Travelers Rest coach David Skelly talked about Tolbert and what he thought of him as a catcher. “A really good arm,” Skelly said. “He does a really good job of blocking and he frames the ball really well. He does a good job and he’s fun to watch. I’ve seen him three times now and I’m very impressed with him.”
Not to be overlooked is that Tolbert – as a senior catcher this season – has done a great job of helping lead a young pitching staff for the Green Wave.
“He’s grown more as a leader in his character and in his approach to the game,” said Coach Spitz. “The only one on the pitching staff who contributed innings last year was Walker (Cox). Those guys have gotten better throughout the year and that’s a large part of him holding the guys accountable for Coach Simpson’s pitching philosophies. I’m just really proud of him and he has a bright future ahead of him.”
Aaron, The Easley Progress Athlete of the Week, is the son of Alicia and Bret Tolbert.
Reach Jeff Holt at 864-855-0355.