Hometown Heroes: Tallahassee products honored to represent city through FAMU baseball

Florida A&M baseball is now playing for second.

The Rattlers' Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) woes continued last weekend after dropping two of three games at Jackson State.

They're 1-5 in their last two series combined and now No. 3 in the SWAC East as the conference tournament approaches on May 24.

"I wasn't pleased with how last weekend went," FAMU head coach Jamey Shouppe said. "I thought we could've pitched better which I've been saying all year long.

"The way it lays out ― we're playing for the second seed."

FAMU was without one of its top hitters Jared Weber against JSU after he came down with a strep throat. The senior will return this weekend for the Rattlers (23-23, 16-8 SWAC) three-game series against rivals Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (25-22, 16-7 SWAC) at Moore-Kittles.

But FAMU will miss its hits leader Ty Jackson, who pulled his hamstring last weekend.

"That's going to hurt us," Shouppe said. "But we are at home and the crowd should be good. The weather is going to be very, very warm. So we've been getting ourselves acclimated to the heat.

"Bethune is good. To me, they have the best pitching staff in the conference. We're looking forward to competing against them. It's a big weekend and it should be a good series."

The Wildcats are ahead of the Rattlers at the No. 2 spot in the SWAC East ― trailing Alabama State. In the previous FAMU-BCU series, the Wildcats prevailed in two out of three games in Daytona Beach.

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FAMU baseball has an affinity for loading roster with Tallahassee, Big Bend talent

FAMU prides itself on having Big Bend representation.

The team's roster features 11 of 37 players from Tallahassee ― Will Brown, Tyler Dunbar, Caleb Granger, Garrett Green, Grant Harrison, Cameron Kelly, Argene Lynn, Zach Morea, Broedy Poppell, Dallas Tease, JD Tease.

Surrounding areas are also accounted for as three players come from Wakulla High School ― Trenten Langley, Joseph Pierini, and Weber.

Shouppe deliberately recruits local prospects due to the abundance of in-town talent and connections he's built with area high school baseball coaches.

"It's something we do by design," he said. "Recruiting Florida is big for us and it's nothing better than getting local talent that have been coached the right way by guys that know how to play the game. It's good baseball in the city, including Wakulla, and I know local guys will come in knowing how to play the game.

"A lot of them have Florida State and FAMU ties and both of those programs have taught good baseball. We try to get as many of the local kids as we can and don't shy away from it. Win, lose, or draw ― these guys have a good Division I experience.

"Word of mouth from former players is the best recruiting tool that you have. We're proud of the fact that we have a lot of local guys and will continue that as long as they can play."

Morea, a pitcher, is the longest tenured player for the Rattlers alongside Weber.

Morea is a fifth-year senior and has spent all his years at FAMU. He also played on the team that won the 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Championship.

The Chiles High School alumnus has pitched the Rattlers to three wins and only one loss this season.

"It means a lot to be able to represent Tallahassee," Morea, 23, said. "I've ended up loving it here at FAMU. Everyone's been welcoming and I haven't wanted to play for anyone else. I've been able to grow and push through things that many people can't say they have.

"The past few years have been amazing seeing the growth of the baseball team. And having a ring to show for it is pretty cool. But hopefully, we can do it again this year."

Brown, 20, is one of the youngsters of the Rattlers' Big Bend products.

He spent high school attending and playing baseball for Rickards before coming to FAMU a season ago ― the team's first year in the SWAC.

Brown has contributed 29 hits and a homerun to the Rattlers this season. He also has a .986 fielding percentage as a second baseman.

"Having everybody here and representing them is one of the reasons I chose to stay," Brown said. "Being able to be from Tallahassee and having all my family and friends come watch makes it a lot better. It's nice having a lot of local guys around because we all grew up playing with or against each other.

"It helps us build together."

Florida A&M vs. Bethune-Cookman SWAC Baseball Series Information

When: Friday, May 12 at 5 p.m.; Saturday, May 13 at 2 p.m.; Sunday, May 14 at 1 p.m. ― Eastern Time

Where: Moore-Kittles Field; Tallahassee, Florida

Gerald Thomas, III covers Florida A&M University Athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU Baseball: Local products proud to spend college career in Tallahassee