BY MIKE LONDON
SALISBURY POST

KANNAPOLIS — Sure, Bobby Helms tried other sports.

He’s got a ring for being part of A.L. Brown’s 1997 3A state football champions, although he laughs and says that he mostly handed the ball off to the wrong people. And he did a little wrestling until a China Grove Middle School kid named Jamie Cunningham twisted him into a human pretzel.

But everyone knew pretty early on that this kid was going to be a pitcher. His parents remember Helms in Coach Pitch. Kids, obviously don’t pitch in Coach Pitch, but little Bobby insisted on playing that position anyway. He was the one who stood beside the coach and fielded those ground balls that came up the middle.

By age 9, Helms was pitching Dixie Youth ball for real. And he hasn’t stopped. Not through middle school. Not through high school. Not through Kannapolis Legion ball.

He’ll pitch in college, too. Pfeiffer coach Scott Pollard announced earlier this week that Helms will join Concord Legion players Robert Scott, Bryant Parnell and Jamie Tucker as part of an impressive recruiting class.

“All those guys have circled the bases on me a few times,” laughs Helms, proving he has a sense of humor as well as a fastball that was clocked at 91 mph in this week’s American Legion state tournament. “It’ll be good to be on the same team.”

Division I college coaches circled Helms like sharks up in Granite Falls. They couldn’t believe he’d gone virtually unnoticed this spring and summer. The most frequently asked question at Deal Stadium had to be, “Who is this guy?”

A.L. Brown head coach Empsy Thompson can explain how it all happened.

“Word of mouth just didn’t get around about Bobby because he had such a short high school season,” says Thompson.

Helms’ senior high school season was only 10 games thanks to a freak ankle injury he suffered just before the season opener. He didn’t hurt himself pitching, hitting or even running the bases. He simply stepped on second base wrong during a drill.

That moment of unfortunate footwork by Helms nearly sabotaged Thompson’s first season as head coach. The Wonders stood 1-6 in the 3A South Piedmont Conference when Helms returned. They finished 9-7 and were actually in a play-in game for a state playoff spot. It wasn’t all Helms, but an awful lot of it was.

“It wasn’t just his pitching, it was his presence,” says Thompson. “He’s tough and the other kids believe in him.”

His teammates believed in Helms this summer, too. He won eight games for an undermanned Kannapolis Legion squad.

“A lot of times,” says Pollard, “Bobby strapped that team to his back. No question, his team knew it had a chance to win every time he pitched. And it’s hard to say just how valuable that quality is.”

Pollard first heard about Helms from Detroit Tigers area scout Bruce Matthews.

“He told me I needed to get a look at this kid in Kannapolis,” Pollard remembers.

Pollard said he’d love to, but then came the ankle injury. “But coach Thompson kept me posted on when he’d be back,” says Pollard. “I was there for his first start. He topped 87 mph that day and he was a bulldog with a real quick arm. We liked him and we stayed with him. We know we were very fortunate to get in on Bobby early when people didn’t know about him. He really made a jump in a lot of people’s eyes at the Legion tournament.”

But Helms has absolutely no regrets about committing to a Division II school. Pollard has a growing program and it finished in a rush last season. It’s also close to home, so his parents and friends can watch him.

“Pfeiffer sounds fine to me,” says Helms. “Ilike what I saw over there and I like the coach. It’s going to be a good place to go. I’m happy about it.”

Helms says he’s going to Pfeiffer to pitch, but Pollard says he’ll at least get a look as a position player, because he’s a good athlete. Helms is a solid line-drive hitter, who batted in the middle of the lineup for his high school and Legion teams.

Bobby’s good enough with the bat that he’ll get a chance to swing some this fall,” said Pollard. “But we’ve definitely recruited him first of all as a pitcher.”

That makes sense. This is a kid who’s known what he was born to do for a long, long time.