The first time Elizabethton head baseball coach Ryan Presnell saw recent EHS graduate Tre Shoun pitch, he knew that Shoun was going places.
And Tuesday at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, Shoun made it official as to where his first stop during his collegiate career will be. Shoun, in front of friends and family, signed his name with Roane State Community College, where he will play baseball for the Raiders under head coach Zack Sterner.
“I am very excited,” said Shoun about his opportunity to play for the school that is located in Harriman, Tennessee. “It is an honor. I just give all the thanks to my family and my coaches for helping me get here.”
Presnell, who was in attendance during Tuesday’s signing said he knows that Shoun will do a good job at Roane State.
“He is a super kid that I know is going to do well down there,” said Presnell. “It kind of came down to the wire with who he is going to pick and where he was going to go. But I think he made a really good decision not only for his baseball career but also for his academic career as well.”
This past season, Shoun played an integral part on a Cyclones team that made a deep run during the TSSAA Class AA State Baseball Tournament. Elizabethton, after winning both the region and district titles, finished as one of the top four teams in the state. Shoun finished the season with a 1.573 ERA over 75.2 innings of work with some of those innings coming during postseason contests against teams like Gibbs County in the state sectional and Grundy at the state tournament.
“We don’t do it without Tre,” said Presnell. “That is absolutely certain. When we needed to hand the ball to somebody in a tough situation, he was our guy. We knew he was going to do the job.
“When you look back at the games he pitched and the statistics, it is incredible” added Presnell. “He didn’t earn these statistics in easy games. He earned them against tough teams in tough games.”
Making a run to the state tournament is something the former Cyclone won’t soon forget, said Shoun.
“That was the time of my life,” said Shoun. “It was just great getting to experience it with all of my brothers. We were doing the best we could do out there.”
Raiders assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Cam Hamsley attended Tuesday’s signing said that Shoun has the qualities that Roan State baseball looks for in a player.
“Tre is someone who is going to fit in well for us,” said Roane State assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Cam Hamsley. “We are looking for a certain type of player, someone who is gritty, humble and competes at a high level.”