Trinity star Hall headed to Auburn
Fleming Hall made his choice to sign with Auburn University. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Fleming Hall wasn’t sure what to think when Auburn coaches approached him during the 3A state playoffs with a scholarship offer to play baseball for the Tigers.
When head coach Butch Thompson returned for a semifinal matchup at Thomasville, the freshman had an answer for the Auburn coach.
“It was surreal, just to be thought about, to get offered that early,” the Trinity pitcher and shortstop said. “But it’s always something I wanted to do, play baseball at Auburn, so that was a really exciting moment for me. I had been talking to them since the start of the playoffs, but I really didn’t expect an offer to come that early.
“It meant a whole lot to me and my family because we grew up Auburn fans. It’s what I’ve been striving for these last couple of years, to play baseball at Auburn.”
Hall ended his recruitment as quickly as it started, becoming the first commitment to the Tigers’ Class of 2025. He had an offer from another in-state school and interest was building among three other Southeastern Conference schools during travel ball tournaments, but after talking with his father Pete, Fleming Hall accepted Thompson’s offer to play for the Tigers.
“We were never expecting any of this,” Pete Hall said. “We weren’t thinking about recruiting at all. I wasn’t prepared for it yet. But we love Auburn. The big thing for us is the group of coaches, the core three guys, Butch Thompson, Tim Hudson and Gabe Gross. Butch is a real high-character guy. If you ask anybody in college athletics, he’s regarded highly. I want my son to play for somebody like that.”
Give the Tigers credit. Even as they were gearing up for a postseason run, they were the first team to show interest in Hall and the first to extend an offer, saying they would get back with the Hall family after the College World Series to finalize details of the scholarship offer. After listening to that offer, Hall committed to the Tigers on Friday.
As a freshman, he had a designated hitter bat for him throughout much of the second half of the season, but had six RBIs and 10 hits while batting .263 in a limited role.
On the mound, he was crucial to the Wildcats’ postseason hopes, pitching in the third game of the best-of-three series against Providence Christian in the opening round of the 3A state playoffs and the second game of the semifinals against Thomasville and the finals against Piedmont after the Wildcats had dropped the opener in the series.
He finished the season with a 9-1 record and 2.27 earned run average, allowing 26 walks while striking out 67 in 61.2 innings.
Now, the sophomore can concentrate on baseball as he prepares for the defense of the Wildcats’ 2022 baseball state championship.
“Me and my dad were talking about that the other day,” Hall said. “I don’t have to worry about scouts coming to the game or worry about how my stats look, just to get people looking at me. I can just play baseball for the fun of it. I don’t have to worry about other outside factors or any of that.”
Pete Hall, meanwhile, said the family will help recruit others to fill out the Class of 2025.
“We want to help build that class if we can,” Pete Hall said, “whether it’s identifying talent or whatever else we can do to help Auburn. We couldn’t be more excited.”