HiToms launch 2023 campaign

“I’m excited to finally make it to Thomasville,” Stevens said when he was hired in December. “What an opportunity. It’s a blessing, and it’s going to be an exciting summer. I think about the fans, the community — I really wanted to liven this place up and bring in a great product on the field.”

Stevens succeede DJ Russ, who managed the team last summer.

Stints with the Lake Norman Copperheads in the Southern Collegiate Baseball League, Brewster White Caps in the Cape Cod League and the Guilford BlueTicks in the Old North State League helped to prepare Stevens for his opportunity with the HiToms. He’s also the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Keystone College, a Division III school in Laplume, Pennsylvania.

The HiToms are looking to rebound in Stevens’ first season with the club from a 24-24 season in which the team finished outside the four-team Petitt Cup playoffs. The team is just two seasons removed from an appearance in the semifinals.

Fifteen years since they won the last of their three straight Petitt Cup titles, the HiToms continue their quest in earnest next week. High Point-Thomasville’s first Coastal Plain League game will come Thursday at Truist Point when the Asheboro ZooKeepers arrive in High Point, one of five home games away from Finch Field this season.

Having completed negotiations with the city to renew its commitment at Finch Field for the next three years, as well as announcing the five-game agreement with the High Point Rockers to host games at Truist Point, HPT can once again return its full attention to the diamond. In the way of next steps, HiToms’ President Greg Suire is emphatic that he’s just as passionate about his pursuit of a fourth title as he always has been.

Suire reiterated, though, that there can be no success without player development, on which Stevens and the staff at Finch Field have focused their attention. That has been the focus of the entire organization, according to its president, who recently brought HiTom City — 5,000 square feet of indoor turf, three retractable shell batting cages and 3,000 square feet of outdoor speed and agility space — to the property adjacent to Finch Field.

“We have changed so much over the last three or four years,” Suire said. “One of the things that really led me to Sean was thinking, ‘What is the missing piece?’ We’ve got to remain relevant in this biosphere. We remain relevant by playing at a high level, but more importantly, allowing them to get better as an athlete in their training.”

kennedy@tvilletimes.com | 336-888-3578