The Evolution of Noah Bailey: From Fringe College Player to DI Commit
By Wes Johnson
NICEVILLE, Fla. – Hard work, commitment, dedication. Buzz words you hear often in the sports lexicon. And though the correlation between those attributes and on-field success is what every coach and athlete strive to achieve, Northwest Florida sophomore infielder Noah Bailey took them to heart.
It was never that his work ethic was questioned, it just needed to be intensified. His commitment renewed. His dedication hardened.
Standing at 5-10 and anchoring the designated hitter role for Niceville High School, Bailey looked like your typical prep baseball player. His ability to hit separated him from the pack but his lack of a natural defensive position gave some college coaches reason for pause.
"It gets hard to project a designated hitter, where he might play in college," Northwest Florida baseball head coach Doug Martin said. "We got to watch him play a lot and he always had the hit tool. He did several good things at Niceville, so we invited him to join our program as a walk-on."
The honesty from the coaching staff and opportunity to play at hometown NWF was exactly what Bailey was looking for.
"This was real deal now, I get to face some of the best competition in the country," Bailey said. "I was a decent to pretty good player my senior year. Knowing that [being pretty good] wasn't going to play at the next level, I worked hard to get better every single day."
Bailey hit .322 in 31 games as a freshman again mostly in the DH role. He played a few games at third base, but as a freshman on a team that finished 44-12, the chances to experiment in a new defensive position were few.
Following the season, Martin and Bailey sat down for his annual exit interview and the coach laid it all on the table.
"We were honest with each other," Martin said. "We really liked his bat, but he had to figure out how to help our team defensively. He decided to give it another go, and to his credit, he worked his butt off."
During the offseason, motorists on John Sims Parkway would often see Bailey running along the side of the road both in the morning and the afternoon. He worked constantly in the batting cages and on the field to improve his agility, range, and overall consistency as a defensive player.
"He was putting in the work," Martin said. "He went from a kid that could really hit to a kid that dedicated himself to changing his body to the point where when he came back, he was a lot more agile and had a lot more range."
In the fall, Martin gave Bailey a shot at second base and that's where he began to shine.
Late in the fall season, Northwest Florida traveled to Mobile to take on DI mid-major powerhouse South Alabama, a program that has produced the likes of Luis Gonzalez, David Freese, Juan Pierre, Jon Lieber, and countless others.
Bailey rolled up a coupled of athletic double plays and swung the bat with typical confidence. The Jaguars were impressed.
Through the COVID-19-shortened spring season, South Alabama came back around to check on the sophomore. Bailey led the team with a .353 average and three home runs in 23 games. That was enough to convince the Jaguar coaching staff that they had their guy.
"I had a few calls here and there in the fall from some schools that were interested," Bailey said. "I decided to wait it out knowing that if I continued to push on the path that I was on, more schools would be interested, and I'd have the opportunity to commit to the school I really liked."
That opportunity eventually came. In early March, South Alabama made its offer and a few days later Bailey made his decision. He would become a Jaguar joining teammate Jackson Boyd, who signed with USA in November.
"I'm very blessed," Bailey said. "It's going to be fun, I'm ready for the work and it's a great place for me to be. I'm excited to be a part of a program with as much history as South Alabama."
Obviously disappointed that his sophomore season was cut short, Bailey says he will continue to work hard in preparation for the newest chapter in his baseball career.
Even while practicing social distancing, Bailey continues to run, swing the bat as much as possible and finds new ways to improve each day. But that should not come as a surprise, it's just the way Noah Bailey operates.
--NWF--