Hamilton perseveres despite disruptions

By Sam Waller

Several factors combined to disrupt Brian Hamilton’s college baseball career, but he started getting things back on track in 2022 at Harding University.

A 2018 Albany graduate who earned all-state honors for the Lions, Hamilton redshirted in 2019 at Cisco College, then had the next two seasons wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic and a shoulder injury. He saw limited action as a pitcher in 2022, going 0-1 with a 7.88 ERA in four appearances, making one start and working a total of eight innings.

“It was exciting, but it was weird after taking so much time off,” Hamilton said. “There were some ups and downs, but toward the end of the season things started to click. I started getting into the flow of things and getting back to how it was before.”

The injury required Hamilton to totally rebuild his pitching motion.

“I spent a lot of time at a rehab place in Arlington to find a way to throw that supports pitching, a healthy way to throw the baseball,” he said. “Humans were not made to throw baseballs.”

Hamilton could gain another year of eligibility at Harding. In 2020, he pitched 6.1 innings over three appearance for Cisco College before the season was shut down.

“When COVID hit, the NCCA gave us the 2020 and 2021 seasons back,” he said. “I was basically a 22-year-old freshman this year.”

With at least two years remaining, Hamilton is eying graduate school so he can continue his career.

“I definitely want to use my grad year,” he said. “The goal is to play this game as long as I can. I love playing baseball. Once grad school comes into the picture, I’ll see where that takes me.”

After the 2022 college season, Hamilton played with the Pro Sports Athletics, a Carrollton-based summer team for college players. The team plays in a wood-bat league, which Hamilton said was a different experience from pitching to batters using aluminum bats.

“You see a big power drop-off for most guys,” he said. “I like seeing that as a pitcher.”

Hamilton’s summer also included a mission trip to Kenya with his parents, Paul and Debbie Hamilton of Albany. Hamilton was part of a church-building team that worked in a village about two hours from the coastal city of Mombasa.

“That was the first time I’ve been out of the country,” he said. “Seeing how people live with much less than I do was humbling and eye opening.”