Justin Badon: North Pike High School Standout

Like so many other high school baseball players, Justin Badon’s career began on the four-year-old T-Ball field. Badon, a junior Shortstop and Pitcher for the North Pike High School baseball team in Summit, MS, loved all sports, including football and basketball, but decided to stick with baseball in the end.

“I just like the camaraderie, the competition, being part of team, being a leader,” he said.

“He’s come on big this year,” said Justin’s mother, Leigh Badon. “As each year goes by, he gets better.”

Last year, he was batting .410, but this year he’s at .510. He’s racked up three doubles, three triples, and three homeruns, with an on base percentage of 700. As of mid-April, Badon had only struck out twice.

“He’s improved dramatically over the last year in all aspects of the game,” said North Pike coach George Lott.

North Pike, (District 7, 3A) had a 16-5 record as of early April, and had gone 12-0 in district going into the playoffs.

“From last year to this year, I wanted to improve my batting average and power,” he said. “I did a lot of weightlifting.” Badon said he’s noticed an improvement in his velocity this year as well. Though shortstop has been his main position, North Pike has relied more on his pitching this year than in the past.

Badon’s not afraid of pressure. In early April, North Pike faced Franklin County, another team undefeated in district. In game one, Badon pitched a no-hitter, struck out six, as well as hitting a homerun and a two RBI single. Two night later, in game two North Pike got off to a 3-0 start, but the lead was cut to 3-2 in the sixth inning after a couple of errors. With a runner on third and no outs, Badon is put in as pitcher and struck three out in a row.

Tommy remembers his son saying afterwards, “I wanted the ball. I didn’t want to lose that game.” Badon leads by example, Lott said.

Badon has the best pitching stats on the team this year, with a 5-0 pitching record this season, one save, and a 0.42 ERA. He’s struck out 51 batters in 31 innings.

This summer, Badon will play on a select travel team, and also participate in the Wood Bat Tournament in Marietta, GA in late June.

Badon, 5 “10, 170 lbs, hopes to play college ball for Ole Miss, and he’s already begun attending baseball camps and Showcase events that draw college recruiters.

Though there’s room for improvement in hitting and fielding, Lott said, “If anybody can do it, he can do it.”

At an Ole Miss Showcase, Badon ran a 6-6-60. “The coaches said that’d be the third best on the team right now,” said his father, Tommy Badon. One high school athlete at the showcase who had already signed with Ole Miss ran a 6-8, showing Tommy that his son was faster than he’d previously realized.

Tommy, who’s coached his son since the age of 7, believes his speed and quickness is his biggest asset. “From what I’ve been told, his speed is going to get attention,” he said.

Lott believes his work ethic is Badon’s most crucial asset. Badon’s increased his homerun hitting thanks to his offseason weight room workouts and he’s improved his top speed in pitching from 79 mph last year to 88 mph this year.

At practice, Badon is the first to arrive and the last to leave. “I had to run him off when he came to practice sick,” Lott said.

In a recent game against Tylertown, Badon struck out 12. “I never dreamed he’d be the Ace,” Tommy said. “Now he’s got velocity to go with it.”

Badon’s still at his best in the mid-field, Tommy said. “Nothing hardly gets by him,” he said.

Badon, a 4.0 student, made a 24 on the ACT as a sophomore, and he’s hoping to make a 30. If two kids are equal on the baseball field, the one with the higher grades is likely to get a scholarship, Badon said, since college coaches have limited money. “Academics is really high on my list,” he said.