Firebirds’ Wallace joins diamond Bulldogs

After a career at Southern Nash High where he equally impressed in football as well as baseball, Keegan Wallace opted for a future on the diamond at Barton College.

Wallace, a first baseman/catcher for the Firebirds, officially joined the Bulldogs of NCAA Division II Conference Carolinas when he signed his National Letter of Intent during a ceremony at Southern Nash on May 13.

Wallace, a three-time all-conference selection in both football and baseball, said he loves both sports, but at 6-foot-0, 190 pounds, his size was better suited for baseball in college.

“Yeah, I mean, I played football from the time I was 4, but I think just size was the reason I couldn’t take that to the next level,” he said.

The son of Ashley and Tripp Wallace of Nashville, Wallace said that he received recruiting interest from Louisburg College of the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as NCAA Div. III North Carolina Wesleyan and Methodist. However, Barton head coach Keith Gorman and his staff made sure Wallace knew he was a target of theirs. Besides, he wanted to stay nearby.

“How close it was to home; I didn’t want to go too far,” he said of the reasons for choosing Barton. “The way they recruited me, they always kept in touch and made it known that they wanted me to go there. And then I went to a camp there. I liked the coaches and toured all the facilities and stuff I just thought it was a nice place and I liked everything about it.”

Wallace, who landed on the Farris & Thomas Academic All-Area team last week, said he plans to major in high school education at Barton.

Wallace said he could play catcher, first base or outfield for the Bulldogs.

“It depends on how the fall season and everything goes and what they have numbers-wise,” he said.

Working on arm strength for possible outfield duty is on Wallace’s list of things to do over the summer. His versatility and hitting history helped put him on the collegiate radar.

“I think with the bat I’m pretty solid,” he said. “I think my approach is good. I would just say fielding-wise, wherever I can fit in and improve them wherever they put me.”

Wallace burst onto the scene as a sophomore in 2022 when he hit a sizzling .464 (32 of 69) with 14 doubles, a triple and 26 RBIs. However, he tailed off the last two years, hitting a combined .273 (35 of 128) with 27 RBIs, although his power numbers jumped this spring with three triples and two home runs.

“His plate discipline was unreal. I tell him all the time, his sophomore year really says a lot,” said Southern Nash head coach Kwamaine Battle, who coached Wallace in the ninth grade as the Firebirds junior varsity head coach then. “And he easily could have been, in my opinion, an all-state player. That year right there probably put him on the radar.  … And he’s probably been walked more than anybody or in the top 5 in school history. He’s very dangerous at the plate and he’s always one swing away … And his baseball IQ at first base this year was unreal also. He’s just so aware of everything.”

Wallace also brought other important qualities to the table.

“He’ll do whatever he needs to do to help the team win,” Battle said. “Last year we needed somebody in the catcher’s position and he did so for us. He said, ‘Whatever I need to do for us to be successful, I’ll make it happen.’

“He’s another kid to where his leadership has taken him to a whole different level. The team was very, very young this year and he told the young guys, ‘Come on, I’m gonna help you through the season.’

“I mean, it was even times like, on Saturdays, he would orchestrate hitting just with them. And I mean, you don’t see that a lot of times, when you just get eight kids without a coach. He’d just be like, ‘Hey, look, meet me out here at such time, and we’re gonna hit for an hour.’

“But that’s the type of leadership you need, though. Those type of things.”

Wallace will join former Firebird Mason Wells at Barton as well as two other familiar faces that he played against at Northern Nash in infielders Ashton Rhodes and Bryson Jenkins

“We all grew up playing in Rocky Mount together and around the same travel ball teams — played with each other, against each other — so it’ll be fun to get back out there with them,” said Wallace, who intends to play in a few events this summer with his travel team, the Diamondbacks.

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