For Will Campbell, baseball has been and still is a family affair. “My mother was actually my first baseball coach on the little pee wee teams when I was just starting out at the age of four or five,” he said. “Then, my dad coached me on a couple teams in Little League and my travel teams along the way. It is great to play here at GSU and in Atlanta where they can keep up with me.”
Mom Carol and dad Anthony knew best, we guess. His 7-1 pitching record this year co-leads the Colonial Athletic Association, while his 2.67 ERA and opponents batting average allowed of .220 are both third in the conference.
A senior team leader, Campbell was described by his pitching coach Jason Arnold as “very easy going, not a real emotional guy.” So, maybe when Will called to talk from his pick-up truck on his way to practice, he said he likes spending quiet time at the lake, listening to country music, and spending time with family and friends. That wouldn't be the typical description of some steal-the-headlines, look-at-me style pitchers who like to be noticed.
Born and raised in Atlanta's suburb of Douglasville, Campbell's theme of family came out in multiple ways during the conversation.
Will wasn't the first pitcher in the Campbell family though. “My brother, Andy, was a real good high school pitcher and pitched in college at Mercer University,” Will said. “While I didn't pitch until I got to high school, the coach sent me to the mound as a freshman and said that my brother had been successful there and that I could do the same.” A third Campbell brother, Taylor, decided not to play baseball. "But, Taylor has been so supportive and comes to most of my games, too,"
“My older brother helped me a good bit in learning about sports and competition, but he was more of a power pitcher than I am,” Will said. “And, I remember at the end of my junior year in high school, my dad kind of challenged me to do better if I wanted to go on and pitch in college.”
Will responded and had a sterling 5-1 senior season for the Alexander High Cougars in Douglasville with a 1.86 ERA. That earned him All-Region, All-Douglas County and a spot in the 2007 Dugout Club All-Star game. It helped him get a chance to come to GSU as a walk-on and an opportunity to start working with the Panthers baseball team.
“Now, this GSU baseball team feels like my family,” Campbell noted. “We have a sense of closeness on this team and no one wants to let one another down.
“We want to create the type of season we can all look back on and say we accomplished something, so when we step between the white lines for games, we all have a fire and a sense of urgency to get the job done,” Campbell explained. GSU is 33-13 and has already set a team record for most home wins in a season (24) as they chase the school record of 39 wins. “We are free and easy and know how to laugh and have some fun like a family, but we also know when it's time to take care of business.”
The six-foot-four Campbell has kept his end of the bargain.
Campbell pitched a complete game shutout Saturday against Hofstra to earn CAA Co-Pitcher of the Week honors as he and his teammates hit the stretch drive for a spot in the CAA Championships at the end of May.
Pitching coach Jason Arnold likes how Campbell has responded during his senior year. “He has confidence that I think started back in the summer when he pitched well in the Sun Belt League. He does a remarkable job of keeping the ball down and getting a lot of groundouts. He seems calm and collected when he takes the mound now.”
Indeed, Coach is right. Campbell gets 46 percent of his outs on ground balls, 20 percent on strikeouts and the other 34 percent on fly balls.
“I know I have to rely on the movement of the ball,” Will said. “I am not a power pitcher. I have to keep hitters off balance and Coach Arnold is excellent at knowing how to work with our strengths as well as our weaknesses.”
Control is one of his assets as his stats show he doesn't hurt his chances of winning as he has only 13 walks in his 67.1 innings pitched, to go along with just one wild pitch. He has never allowed more than three earned runs in a game this year to give his talented hitting teammates a chance to do their thing and build leads.
“We made a mechanical adjustment of moving him more from the third base side of the rubber to the first base side and that has helped,” Arnold noted. “And, he made a minor adjustment in one of his pitches, but he has a fast ball that sinks and throws a slider for strikes, so he is in control now.”
“Before his first start this year, he warmed up and was so excited and thought he was ready,” Coach Arnold chuckled. “But then I had to remind him he hadn't thrown a pitch yet from the stretch, so please calm down and get your nerves under control and you will be fine.”
The senior agrees he has continued to improve since day one. “Yes, I do have a good amount of confidence now, but I am not stupid in thinking I can't be beaten. I come out to pitch humble and treat it like it might be my last chance ever to be a starting pitcher.”
Sports include lots of memories and Will's treasure chest has some good ones already. “Winning the conference championship in 2009 the way we did, then getting to play in the NCAA Regionals, and, of course, getting the ring to keep are all fantastic memories so far,” Campbell added.
Will also got to pitch the final 2.1 innings of relief as a sophomore when GSU defeated No. 3-ranked Georgia Tech in a regional TV game for another memory.
“Having the relationships with your teammates and working together keep the family atmosphere alive because we all care about one another,” he said. “We really want to get back to the NCAA Regionals again with all the seniors we have. Chances are for a lot of us, college is our last baseball, so we don't want to lose the opportunity we might have.”
Will celebrated his 22nd birthday on April 25 so Saturday's shutout was a belated gift to himself.
Will also knows he wants to finish what he started in the classroom, too. “I will come back in the fall and finish my economics degree in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.” Another great thing about GSU for Will was meeting his girlfriend of three years, Lindsie Chrisley. "She is such an inspiration and supporter in everything I do, so knowing how much she cares and how she is always there has been wonderful, too."
There are only ten regular season games left for Will and all his “family members” to enjoy as the Panthers try to create more memories for the family photo albums. But, even if there isn't to be another NCAA ring at the end, the joy of family support will always be a treasure for Will Campbell.
