CRESTVIEW  — Roman Donofro is ready to start the next stretch of his baseball journey.

The 2013 Crestview High School graduate and his Valdosta State (Ga.) University teammates start practicing later this month for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Gulf South Conference. When Donofro takes the mound for the Blazers, he will be pitching for his third college team in as many years: He first played at Jefferson Davis Community College in Brewton, Ala. Last season, he was at Pensacola State College before ending up on the South Georgia campus.  

Donofro said he never could have imagined this path. “It has been interesting,” he said. “I think I’ve grown up over the last couple of years. It has taught me a lot. I had a rough year at first at JD (Jefferson Davis), but then things got back going at Pensacola State.

"You don’t give up. You never know what’s going to happen and  open up for you.”

'A GROWING UP KIND OF THING'

Valdosta is the farthest Donofro has lived from Crestview, but he’s adjusting.

“It’s been different; it’s my first time being off by myself (without knowing anyone),” he said. “Even my first year at JD, and at Pensacola … I was playing with my friends and people I knew. Being over at Valdosta … it’s been a growing up kind of thing, but I’ve enjoyed it.”

Donofro has noticed differences in baseball at a four-year school, too. “It’s a lot different than (junior college) because you have all ages playing,” he said. “We have 24-year-olds we are playing with … I think there is even more of an emphasis on the pitching staff and having a bunch of arms, because we play a bunch of games during the week. There’s a lot more depth.

"That’s the big difference: the pitching staff and the depth of the fielders.”

FINDING HIS PLACE

Donofro said the Blazers will use him as a relief pitcher. “I’m going to be a late bullpen guy — setup or closer; hopefully closer,” he said. “That’s my goal. That’s what I’m hoping happens for me — closing – which I have a pretty good shot at.”

Donofro said he consistently throws his fastball in the upper 80s and will occasionally hit 90 or 91 miles per hour with it. He still has a good curve, but he’s also picked up a new pitch.

“I’ve started throwing a slider since I’ve been in college,” he said. “That’s more of my out pitch now.”

FAMILY TREE

Dale Willis — Donofro’s grandfather, a longtime baseball coach and educator in Okaloosa County — played college baseball on William Carey University’s 1969 national championship team.

As long as he can remember, Donofro said, Willis has been his greatest resource on how to play the game.

“Just his knowledge — growing up and stuff — he’s where I’ve gotten everything from,” Donofro said. “He’ll still give me some little tidbits of information here and there.

“It’s been very helpful along my baseball journey.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Former Crestview pitcher ready to take the mound for Blazers

CRESTVIEW — Tate Sweatt has a new appreciation for the game of baseball. The 2013 Crestview High School graduate visited the Dominican Republic last month with the Nicholls State (La.) baseball team.

“It was different,” he said of the Santo Domingo experience. "… Watching the way they love baseball and how much they love baseball — it’s really all they have to do. They really have nothing. Everybody lives in little shacks.  We actually painted three houses for them … Their houses aren’t as big as the (Crestview High School baseball) field house.”

The Colonels  —  who played a couple of exhibition games while in Santo Domingo, beat a police team 7-4 and lost to an independent team  —  but Sweatt will mostly remember the kids he met. “They are actually pretty good ball players, but some of them didn’t have equipment, so we had to give some of our equipment to them,” he said. “If they had to play barefoot, they would. That’s how much they love the game.

“I had to give my glove to some of them to use. Some of us actually took the shoes off our feet so they could have something to wear. We gave them what we could — balls and bats and stuff.”

As for the field, "the infield was just dirt,” Sweatt said. “There were holes in the outfield … When you dove (for a ball), you were going to come up with a scrape on your arm or something … There were rocks everywhere.”

Sweatt said he will never see life the same way.

“Just seeing how they live  —  it changes you,” he said. “I have a lot more than they do, and sometimes I complain.  Seeing those kids with a big smile on their faces, when they don’t have anything …

"I appreciate what I have a lot more now."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Former Crestview baseball player visits poverty-stricken Dominican Republic

CRESTVIEW — Anthony Brown’s baseball journey has brought him  full circle.

The 2006 Crestview High School graduate played football and baseball for the Bulldogs.

He played one year of baseball at Okaloosa-Walton College (Northwest Florida State) before embarking on a three-year stint in minor league baseball.

Now, Brown is back home in Okaloosa County as an assistant baseball coach at Northwest Florida State.

“It’s great,” he said. “You can never replace being home. I’m about 10 or 15 minutes down the road from seeing my parents and my brother and sister and, also, my little nephew.

“… That (being away from family) was the biggest challenge moving away (to play minor league baseball). It’s great seeing old friends and coaches that remind me about certain things I did when I played them — if I hit a home run or hit somebody on a football field.”

ROAD LESS TRAVELED

To say Brown took a road less traveled toward coaching and back to Okaloosa County is an understatement.

In 2006, the Cincinnati Reds picked Brown in the 23rd round of Major League Baseball’s amateur draft. He signed with the Reds after completing his freshman year at Northwest Florida State.

Brown spent three years with the Reds, playing minor league ball in Dayton, Ohio; Billings, Mont.; and Sarasota. The team released him before the 2010 season.

With his baseball career at an end, the standout Crestview linebacker turned back to football.

“I was just doing the football for the whole scholarship thing,” he said. "When your time is up (playing) and that’s all you know, it’s real hard to let it go or move on and not be bitter. I know a lot of teammates that I still talk with now that are still bitter about being done with baseball."

Brown eventually became a student football coach at South Alabama, a volunteer assistant baseball coach last year at the University of New Orleans, and finally back to Northwest Florida State.

ACCIDENTAL COACH

Brown didn't plan on coaching. He had thoughts of a front-office management job in professional baseball.

“I really didn’t want to coach,” he said. “I wanted to stay away from that as much as possible. But they (South Alabama football coaches) approached me when South was making their transition (to Division I) football. I was going to lose my last two years of eligibility to play football and I wasn’t able to transfer to another DII school to play.

“Coach (Joey) Jones came up to me and asked me if I would be interested in coaching, and they would give me scholarship money. When I heard that, I wasn’t thinking about getting into coaching. I was thinking, ‘scholarship money — take care of some more bills I’m going to have.

"Yeah, I’m going to take it.’”

But Brown soon got hooked.

“Once I started doing it, I realized I could have an impact on players,” he said. “At the end of the day, people go through things in life. I remember a couple of kids — their moms passed away; another guy’s mom had cancer.

“Going through all of that, and being able to be there for those guys, to have an impact, and they were actually looking up to (me) — that was very rewarding."

MENTOR'S INFLUENCE

Crestview baseball Coach Tim Gillis was not surprised to see Brown coaching.

Gillis said he always thought Brown had the necessary professional and personal skills to effectively coach.

“Anthony probably doesn’t remember it, but I said something to him years ago — ‘You would make a good coach,’” Gillis said. "He’s so well respected by his peers. He’s a great guy with a great attitude.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all that he’s in coaching. He’s just a super young man. I always go back to it and say what kind of person you are is more important than what kind of player you are, because your playing days will be over and they will be over quicker than we like sometimes.”

Gillis said he believes Brown will continue to be an ambassador for Crestview High School and the game of baseball.

Brown speaks fondly of his former coach and mentor.

“I think the biggest thing Coach Gillis taught me was just being level-headed in everything,” he said. “Even when I was in pro ball — because he had already been there — he gave me some pointers about going through the grind and the minor league life.”

Gillis also showed him the importance of caring for  his players.

Brown’s dream was to play baseball at Florida State, and although the Seminoles showed no interest in him, Gillis took the time to write FSU's coaching staff on Brown's behalf.

"Even though they didn’t call me or anything — just for him to do that meant a lot,” Brown said.

“I still tell people today that Coach Gillis really took care of us.”

'THAT'S MY BIGGEST GOAL'

Brown spent the 2014-2015 school year as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of New Orleans under then head coach Ron Maestri.

His Crestview teammate, Blake Dean, also was on staff.

When Maestri retired at the end of last season, the school promoted Dean to head coach. Brown hoped to stay on Dean’s staff, but his lack of experience as a college baseball coach hurt his chances of landing the job.

Dean hired former Niceville infielder Brett Stewart, who was coaching at Northwest Florida State.

“Blake and I were talking and he said, with Brett leaving there was going to be an open spot at Northwest Florida,” Brown said. “I picked up the phone and called Coach (Doug) Martin and talked to him about 30 minutes. I asked him if he was looking for an assistant since Brett might be leaving.

“After that, he offered me (the job) and a chance to come back home for a year or two and get some experience recruiting."

Now, coaching is in Brown's blood, and the 27-year-old anticipates the future.

“I want to eventually become a head coach. I want to be a Division I (head coach) — that’s my biggest goal,” he said. “I was talking to my dad and, when he was growing, baseball was his favorite sport.

"His biggest thing was having more blacks in baseball — that’s always been his thing.

The thing I’ve learned is, as time transitions, you have to transition with it in sports and life in general. There are not too many black Division I head coaches.

"My dad was like, ‘I’ve never heard of a black Division I head coach winning the national championship.

"And you can leave an impact.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview High grad, 'accidental' baseball coach, returns home to Okaloosa County