On Thursday afternoon with friends and family gathered in the Greeneville High School auditorium Jacob Ward took the next step in his baseball career by signing his letter of intent with Montreat College.
“It feels great to sign today. I’m excited to take this next step, and I’m excited for the future and what it holds,” Ward said.
Montreat is an NAIA program that competes in the Appalachian Athletic Conference. The school is located just outside of Asheville, North Carolina.
The Cavaliers are currently 30-17 on the season and led by Jason Beck who is in his 10th season at the helm. In 27 years as a head coach Beck has accumulated more than 800 wins.
The mountain setting of Montreat’s campus and its historic buildings is what initially drew Ward to the school. He also liked that at roughly 1:30 away he will not be too far from home.
“It’s a beautiful campus and everything about the school was great,” Ward said. “It feels like baseball was a religion up there. Everybody wants to get away a little bit for college, but I did want to stay close to my momma. She may miss me a little too much.”
Ward plays catcher for the Greene Devils, and has been an important piece of this year’s team that currently ranked No.1 in Class 3A according to the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association.
The Greene Devils are coming off a state championship in 2025 and Ward is focused on making another deep postseason run before his time at Greeneville in over.
“We still want to win a state championship. That’s the number one goal and I want to do whatever I can to help the team get there. It’s going to take dedication and sticking with the grind,” Ward said.
Ward plans to major in biology and want to go to pharmacy school after he graduates.
