Former Russellville High School varsity baseball player Brennon Thorpe is set to continue his playing career at the collegiate level.
Thorpe, who helped lead the Golden Tigers to another quarterfinal appearance in the AHSAA playoffs this past season, is joining the Blue Mountain Christian University baseball program in the fall.
“I’m really extremely, extremely excited for him and really happy for his family that he’s getting this opportunity to continue his playing career,” Russellville head coach Jess Smith said. “His shoes are gonna be mighty hard to fill (at RHS), not only for what he did as a player but what he did as a leader and the example he’s set at our program.”
Thorpe suffered injuries in the early days of his high school playing career. Those setbacks motivated him to strive for a chance to play college baseball.
“When I got hurt my freshman and sophomore years there were people who said I wouldn’t be able to do it,” Thorpe said. “I was kind of like, ‘Watch this,’ you know?”
Smith said Thorpe’s resolve and determination were inspirational and added that he was a model student-athlete.
“People may not know that, as a sophomore, Brennon had a serious injury that ultimately led to total knee replacement…and that took playing time away from him as a 15-, 16-year-old kid,” Smith said. “You get emotional thinking about the hardships that he went through as such a young kid…but that’s what makes him special because he never used that as an excuse. He used that as motivation.
“Brennon embodies all of the qualities that you want as a head coach: Great leader, great teammate, hard and dedicated worker, studious, and kind,” Smith added.
In his final season at Russellville Thorpe earned Franklin Free Press All-Franklin County First Team recognition as the Golden Tiger outfielder batted for a .324 average, scored 30 runs, and recorded 21 RBIs.
Smith believes Thorpe will be successful at the next level as long as he continues to pursue the process that got him to this point.
“After his injury he transformed his body and that dude brought it every single day in workouts,” Smith said of Thorpe. “I think that work ethic is going to give him an edge at the next level. And having to endure those hardships…his mental ability—his mental toughness—is only going to push him to new heights.
“My advice to him would be to never stray from that mental process that he’s developed on his own playing here at Russellville,” Smith added. “There were times here when you could tell that he wasn’t feeling his best, but he did what he had to do to be able to go full tilt the next day. That mental process when you get to the next level and you’re on your own will take you further than you think it will.”
Thorpe, who plans to study business, said he intends on taking those lessons he learned at Russellville to Blue Mountain.
“Coach Smith, Coach (Jay) Stanley, they showed me—showed us all—what it takes. They laid the blueprint for success,” Thorpe said.
While Thorpe moves on to make his mark at the college level, Smith said Thorpe’s legacy will be remembered at RHS.
“When I think of players that I’ve coached, Brennon comes to the forefront because of what he’s gone through, what he’s accomplished, and just because of the kind of person that he is,” he said.
There will be a signing ceremony for Thorpe on Sunday, July 13.
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