Joe Grandison – Braves MVP
The coaching staff of the Indian River Braves’ varsity baseball team named Joe Grandison MVP last season, an honor that was well-deserved. An eighteen-year-old infielder and pitcher, Grandison was selected to the Southeastern District’s second team as a third baseman last year and was likewise named the second team’s utility player, an honor bestowed on an athlete who plays three or more positions during the season.
Although Grandison’s official infield position this season is shortstop, he has capably demonstrated that he is versatile enough to serve the team well wherever Coach Steve West places him.
Grandison continually hones his infield technique by staying on top of the game; that is a particular area of focus in practice. “When I’m training, fielding ground balls is one of the skills I constantly perform. I usually get someone on the team to hit many different types of balls to me,” he says.
Defense, however, is not Grandison’s only area of expertise. He is among the team’s first batters and recognizes that this part of the game is where the Braves can improve. “Hitting is going to be a key part of having a good season. We need to focus on hitting through the lineup and bringing the team’s batting average up where it should be.”
The Braves’ pitching and defense will help them do well in the Southeastern District this season, according to Grandison. But the 2006 season may be one in which Indian River is gaining the valuable experience to remain one of the district’s strongest teams in the years to come. “Other teams have a lot more seniors than we do,” explains Grandison. “Not so with us. We have plenty of juniors and sophomores this year. That might be a disadvantage now but it will allow the younger guys on the team to get plenty of experience and be good in upcoming seasons.”
Coach West agrees that the team is fairly well split among the classes. Nevertheless, he maintains high expectations for his squad. “We have twenty games in the season and by the end of it, we should all be on the same wavelength and playing our best as a team,” he says. “Anything less than making the district playoffs is unacceptable.”
Not only making the playoffs, but winning them too, is something that Indian River has managed to accomplish with some regularity during West’s twenty-three year tenure as head coach. They would clinch the district title every four years or so. The last time they were able to do this was in 2000, so they are on schedule to do it once more very soon.
West has several reasons to be optimistic that the Braves should come out ahead in the district. First, the Braves have a new field this season. Although construction is not officially completed, the feel of a new venue should give Indian River a boost psychologically.
Also, West takes his practices as seriously as he does the games. They are comprehensive and nature and intended to prepare the athletes for what they will encounter when they take the field against an opponent. “We regularly go over everything that they will do in a game,” explains West. “Defense, stations and drills, batting practice, pitching at different locations, and simulating different counts. The thing we’re trying to do the most is simulate every possible situation they might see.”
West also believes that the area itself is responsible for boosting the quality of local baseball. The competition is better than it was more than two decades ago when he began coaching. “When Mark Newman came to ODU [as head coach in 1981], he revolutionized baseball in this area because the community became more involved,” says West. “There is a lot going on outside of high school baseball and that is a benefit to Indian River and all of the programs around here.”
Many of the Braves now play – or prepare to play – year-round: in the spring is varsity season; there is a fall league; and in winter there is weights and conditioning. As long as West keeps fielding quality players like Grandison, the Braves will remain a competitive team.
As for his personal future, Grandison sees baseball remaining part of it. He would like to walk onto a college team somewhere in Virginia. He has plenty of people who would like to see him do this as well, including his parents, who he says are very supportive, and also, of course, Coach West.
