Former Spartan standout prepares for first season with Alabama baseball
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – It took just one collegiate season for former 4th Region Player of the Year Griffin Rardin to make noise, and soon, he’ll be headed to one of the top baseball programs in the nation.
“ I would say Coach [Bobby] Sprowl, he’s a pretty experienced coach, a veteran. He just helped me with the mental side of it, just thinking out of the box and just thinking a different way of how the game should be played,” Griffin said.
For most first-year college players, season one is for settling into a new environment and competing at a new level, but for Griffin Rardin, it was more of a stepping stone.
He dominated for the Shelton State Community College Bucs, won Alabama Community College Conference Player of the Year, and earned a spot on an SEC roster at the University of Alabama.
“Just the experience, just getting thrown into that, I mean, you always dream about it. You always go to the games and watch, but you never are on the field and just playing,” Griffin said. “That program is on the rise right now and I’m glad to be a part of it.”
Before Griffin heads to Tuscaloosa in the fall, he’s returned home, working out with his father.
Mark Rardin has helped countless college baseball players move up the ranks in his time as a coach, but seeing his son go through the process brings out a whole new sense of emotion.
“Dawn and I are extremely proud. We’re excited for him. I talk to him every day about it because it’s the next rung on that ladder right now, and it’s definitely deserving, the opportunity he’s getting,” Marc said.
“I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve been asked around the community, ‘Why isn’t your son going to be a Hilltopper?’ And I’m like, well, every parent wants their kids to live out their dreams and have their aspirations and live them out and do their best with them,” Marc said. “As a parent, that’s what I’m proud of, that my son gets to do.”
As the summer rolls on, Griffin is prepping for the Roll Tide the same way he’s prepared for any other season in his life, by putting the work in with his dad.
“I mean, he’s done it all for me, just coming in whenever I was seven and just getting ground balls whenever I want, him flipping it to me in the cage and throwing. He’s just always been there for me,” Griffin said.
From the soft toss to the ground balls, Griffin Rardin has trained to get to this moment in his life and is ready to make the next step in his athletic career.
