Cole Blevins gets ready to bat. Rowan County Legion Baseball vs. Mocksville. Photo Credit: Sean Meyers

 

By Mike London

Salisbury Post

SALISBURY — How talented is West Rowan rising senior Cole Blevins?

Very.

He has thrown pitches upwards of 90 mph, so he has the strongest arm on the Rowan County American Legion team.

He is likely the fastest runner on the squad, as he has clocked 6.8 in the 60-yard dash.

With exit velocities that have been measured up to 103 mph, he hits the ball harder than anyone on the team except big first baseman Luke Ponczka, and Blevins makes more consistent hard contact than Ponczka. Blevins is a disciplined hitter. He can pull inner-half pitches for serious power or serve the outside pitch to the opposite field — and he also walks a lot.

Blevins has ideal size for a baseball player at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, and while he’s a right-handed thrower, he’s a lefty hitter, something every baseball coach sees as a major asset.

Put that whole package together and it was no surprise that he committed recently to UNC Wilmington while he was one of the North Carolina all-stars taking on their South Carolina counterparts in Charlotte.

“UNC Wilmington came to see me play my freshman year at West Rowan and they’ve followed me since then — they recruited me the hardest and the longest,” Blevins said. “They’ve talked to me a lot since my junior year. They’ve been at the top of my list a long time. Great school and great baseball program. There was never much doubt I’d be committing to them. We just made things official now.”

Before his pledge to the Seahawks, Blevins was considered by experts to be the state’s best uncommitted player in the Class of 2026. He’s considered a top-10 player in the class statewide. You would have heard a whole lot more about Blevins, but East Rowan stud Harrison Ailshie is the second-rated player in the class.

Blevins leads off for Rowan, but he’s somehow tied for the team lead in RBIs with 19 with 3-hitter Carter Durant. That’s not easy to do, but he’s batting .460 (23-for-50) and he has 21 runs scored. He’s only socked one homer so far this summer, but he has seven doubles and a triple.

“I can’t say leadoff is my favorite spot to bat in, but it’s going fine and always glad to help the team,” Blevins said. “I get RBIs chances because our 8 and 9 hitters (usually Eli Graham and Gaige Scruggs) do a good job of getting on base.”

Blevins has only pitched two (scoreless) innings because he’s been battling some tendinitis, but it’s not considered a serious issue and it’s possible he may pitch more often in the playoffs.

Blevins got started young in the game.

“Two older brothers who played was the biggest reason for that,” Blevins said. “Baseball always has been my main sport.”

Blevins became a starter for West Rowan coach Seth Graham as a freshman and held his own with a .324 batting average.

He became a star as a sophomore, batting .451 with an on-base percentage of .563. He scored 33 runs, knocked in 24 and stole 15 bases. He had eight doubles, a triple and a homer.

He recently turned in an All-State junior season, batting .456 with an insane on-base percentage of .609. He scored 46 runs and drove in 29. He had four homers, nine doubles and two triples and stole 16 bases.

“Best moment of my junior season was a grand slam I hit against Ledford in the playoffs,” Blevins said. “It helped us win (9-7) and get to the next round.”

While he’s been a high school star for years, Rowan Legion fans are getting their first look at Blevins this summer. He’s played showcase ball in previous summers, but he’s playing Legion now for Graham, who is in his first year as Rowan County’s head coach. Blevins is playing with a lot of high school teammates, as about two-thirds of the Rowan County team is from West.

“The biggest change with Legion ball is playing as often as we do, five or six games some weeks,” Blevins said. “But that’s a good thing. I like Newman Park and I love to play.”