Signal Mountain center fielder Grant Galbraith has committed to play baseball for Jacksonville State University.
"It's just amazing down there. As soon as we drove on campus, I felt like I was at home," he said Monday. "I feel like I have known the coaches for years. It was awesome.
"They invited us down for an official visit this (past) weekend. We met with the head coach (Jim Case). He told Grant he thought Grant would be a good fit and that he'd like to make an offer," recalled Galbraith's mother Donna. "It was a good fit. Grant was so excited, so happy. As a parent you can't ask for any more than that."
Galbraith hit .451 for the Eagles last season, but the bat is only the beginning according to George Koontz, the head of the Chattanooga Cyclones travel program, and Signal Mountain coach Josh Gandy.
"Grant has the potential to be an honest-to-gosh five-tool player," Koontz said. "He has a 6.68 60-yard dash, he has improved his arm strength to where it's well above average, he has raw power and he gets great jumps on the ball and takes good angles offensively. He just has to get more consistent with the hard contact, but that will come."
Galbraith has topped 6-foot-1 and now weights 190 pounds, and Koontz said Galbraith had gotten much stronger.
"Grant has a huge upside - above-average speed, great bat speed and the ability to hit for power and average," Gandy said. "He has plus-speed as an outfielder. He's one of those kids everybody gravitates to. He enjoys life to the fullest. He's always happy, and even when things aren't going great for him, he bounces back quickly."
It could be genetics. Moe Galbraith, Grant's dad, was an outstanding basketball and baseball player and golfer at Red Bank and signed a baseball scholarship to play shortstop at Tennessee Tech. His career, however, was cut short by numerous injuries.
Signal Mountain pitcher Jackson Etter has committed to St. Petersburg College in Florida.
"We used him as a closer and as a starter, but with the new pitch-count guidelines we'll probably move him strictly to starting," Gandy said. "He'll work as hard as anybody. He has a plus fastball, a very good slider and actually a really good changeup."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.