Grown-up boys of summer: Baseball bonds

Chris Humphreys
Published: March 11, 2008

If the word “bonds” slips out around a baseball diamond, at best, you will likely get a few aggravated moans, thanks to the recent scandal involving one the game’s biggest stars — Barry Bonds.

But at its best, at its heart, the game of baseball has and will be about the social bonds developed on the diamond that can span lifetimes. A perfect example is a group of six friends who starred in the Seminole District at the turn of the century.

Brookville’s Shawn Abell, Heritage’s Chris and Joe Knowles, Grant Achilles, Lucas Jones and Brandon Stanley were integral parts of teams that dominated the Seminole. At various times they teamed with one another and competed against each other from T-ball to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

Now, as yet another baseball season approaches, they are doing what they seemingly have always done when the weather begins to warm up. Only now they are the ones imparting their knowledge and zeal for the game they love as coaches.

“I’ve known those guys for so many years,” Chris Knowles said. “They’ve been my friends since T-ball. It really was like an extended family. All those guys, and their parents, they were always there for you.”

Said Stanley: “We grew up together playing baseball. Playing summer after summer. I can’t say enough about them and the parents (that made sacrifices not just for them to play baseball but feel like family).”

None of the six seemed at all astounded that so many of them would go into the coaching.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” Achilles said. “We all had a love of the game. I could feel it.”

Said Jones: “That whole team had a kind of baseball savvy. Baseball has been a part of our lives since we were 5 years old. It was ingrained into us.”

Said Joe Knowles: “We all really love the sport and have a dedication to it. We want to pass on what we have learned.”

The fact that Abell went into coaching certainly shouldn’t be a surprise. He comes from a coaching family that has deep roots in Central Virginia. His father, Percy, is the head baseball coach at Lynchburg College. Shawn’s uncle, Todd, coached baseball at Altavista, Amherst, Nelson County and William Campbell. Uncle Scott is the coach of two-time defending Group AA football champion Amherst Lancers.

“It started with my grandfather, Marshall (who coached his three sons Percy, Todd and Scott in youth league baseball teams),” Shawn said. “Coaching is what we have always done. Scott just kind of went in his own direction.”

Abell graduated from Brookville in 2000 and, after a spending a year at Radford, starred at Lynchburg College where he played for his father. Also on the team were Chris Knowles and Jones.

“The five of us are best friends,” Abell said. “Some of the best times I had were playing on the Post 16 American Legion teams with them.”

Abell briefly played professional ball before taking a coaching position at LC for the 2006 season. He then served as an assistant at Vassar in 2007 and is now in his first year as head assistant coach at Longwood.

“I was elated when I got the job (at Longwood),” Abell said. “I’ve known (Lancers’ head coach Buddy Bowling) forever. He coached my uncle Scott.”

Jones graduated from Heritage in 2001. He briefly played college ball in Pennsylvania before coming to Lynchburg College. He was a volunteer assistant coach at VCU in 2007 and took an assistant position at Randolph-Macon College this winter.

Achilles graduated from Heritage in 2001 and played baseball at Wake Forest. He was a volunteer assistant at Charlotte in 2007 and is now a volunteer assistant at Western Carolina.

“I still talk regularly with all those guys,” Achilles said. “It was great to see Shawn, Chris and Lucas at the American Baseball Coaches Association convention. We got to hang out and reminisce.”

Chris Knowles graduated from Heritage in 2000 and played at LC, while brother Joe graduated from Heritage in 2001 and went on to play at Hampden-Sydney.

“I remember getting out of class (at Hampden-Sydney) and going down the baseball field to see the bus pull in with Chris, Shawn and Lucas,” Joe said. “It was great to hang out around the batting cage and talk with them during batting practice.

“One of my best memories was hitting my first home run my freshman year. It was against Lynchburg and Chris was playing right field. The games were always fun because bragging rights were on the line and you didn’t want to lose because you would never hear the end of it over the summer. Some us were living in the same house.”

Chris started as baseball operations intern for the Lynchburg Hillcats, then coached American Legion baseball and at Jefferson Forest for two seasons. Now he is in his first season as an assistant coach at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa.

“It’s a credit to our parents and coaches that kept us grounded and wanting to give back,” Chris said. “I have wanted to coach since I was a junior in college. I love baseball and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience when growing up. It would be nice to keep it going.”

Joe Knowles and Stanley are coaching the Heritage junior varsity team. Stanley also graduated from Heritage in 2001. He played one season of baseball and four seasons of basketball at Emory & Henry.

For the four members — Joe Knowles, Achilles, Jones and Stanley — of the 2001 Heritage team, which made the state finals, some of their fondest memories revolved around a team ritual that had players gather before school at a restaurant and have breakfast every Friday.

“We would meet up at 6:30 (a.m.) or so, sit in booths and just take time to get to know each other,” Stanley said. “I really enjoyed that.”

“It was just a nice way to spend some time together,” Jones said. “I think of those guys as my close friends. They could call my anytime and I would do anything for them and I know they would do the same for me. This team really extended beyond the playing field.”

The other thing those 2001 Pioneers still talk about is their 3-1 loss to Poquoson in the Group AA state championship game. Sure they were disappointed with the loss on “a beat-you-ball up the middle that pushed across two runs in the fifth” but they still feel they came out winners.

“That season was just unbelievable,” Stanley said. “The friendships and the people, the fact that so many of us are still really good friends, not a lot of people can say they have experienced something like that.”

Said Jones: “It was nice to make it to the championship game but the thing I take from that team was the ability to build those relationships and take pride in them. I still communicate with 11 or 12 of those guys consistently. It was a special team.”