Nelson commits to Ferrum College

WALNUT COVE — South Stokes’ Maddox Nelson decided on where he wants to spend the next four years when he signed his letter-of-intent to play baseball at Ferrum College.

“I’m excited to continue my baseball career at Ferrum,” said the senior. “It felt right. I knew it when I first seen the campus. I liked everything about it, the school, the facilities, the players, it felt like home. After the visit, I really didn’t consider anywhere else.”

Nelson helped the Sauras to a Northwest 1A Conference championship during his junior season. The team struggled with youth and finished fourth in the league this season and made a second round state playoff appearance.

He was 6-6 on the mound with an ERA of 1.61. He threw 69.2 innings giving up 16 earned runs, 23 walks, and 136 strikeouts. Nelson batted .328 with an on base percentage of .430, hitting three doubles, three triples, two home runs, and had 15 RBIs.

Nelson is a four-year starter, three-time Northwest 1A All-Conference, three-time All-County, and earned 1A All-State this season. He is tied for 91st in the NCHSAA Record Books with an ERA of 0.83 during the 2023 season.

“Maddox brought stability and leadership to the team this year,” said first year coach Gary Pollard. “With a younger more inexperienced team, we counted on Maddox as a two way player. It’s a role he had to grow into and if you know his personality, it took him a few games to not only lead by example, but to vocally be a leader.

“I think he is walking into a program on where he can have immediate success. Maddox is very coachable, and he will succeed in anything he does.”

Nelson is the son of Joseph and Candice Nelson of Walnut Cove. He will study Business Management while at the college.

“We feel good about his decision,” said his mother, Candice. “The campus is beautiful, and the atmosphere reminds us a lot of South (Stokes). It’s a small school so I hope he’ll be able to get some playing time. The class sizes are small and being a little over an hour from home is a plus for us and makes us happy.”

Ferrum College is a member of the NCAA Division III primarily competing in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).