This issue’s Featured Athlete highlights Parker Sherrod, an RMA senior whose involvement in athletics and hard work have paid off in the best way possible: a college scholarship! Today, April 18, he signed to play baseball at North Carolina Wesleyan University here in Rocky Mount. 

Parker, a lifer at RMA, has played sports even longer than he’s been part of our RMA family. While he has enjoyed football and basketball since seventh grade, Parker’s main–and favorite–sport is baseball. After touching a baseball for the first time at just two years old, Parker’s dream of playing college baseball began. It didn’t take Parker long to join a travel team after finding his love for baseball. Initially, he played weekend travel ball with six of his closest friends (three of whom are going to Wesleyan with him, which he’s very excited about, of course). He played travel with a few different teams on the weekends and during the summer until he found the Carolina Titans, a team out of Greenville, that he loves playing with. 

A dedicated member of the RMA Varsity Baseball team, Parker has been part of the team since the 2020 COVID year. Over time, he has grown to be a starting pitcher and regular corner infielder for the Eagles. Last season, Parker was invited to a summer prospect camp by the Wesleyan head coach after watching him pitch against our rival, Faith Christian. Parker went to the camp and impressed the coaches enough to eventually receive an official offer. Parker says this offer means “everything to me,” and that Wesleyan only being a short drive down the road is “really convenient for me and my family,” especially since his family will “be able to come watch future games.” 

Parker’s work ethic and determination have brought him so far in his baseball career, but he recognizes he hasn’t done this alone. Parker is thankful for the guidance he has been given from his travel and RMA coaches, like Coach Ramsey and Coach Hahula, and he is also “grateful for the opportunity Coach Carter and Coach Clifton [his Wesleyan coaches] have given me!”