By Justin Fedich | The Selma Times-Journal

Keith High School is stepping up to the plate.

In an effort to give students another opportunity to grow and learn through athletics, Keith has added a baseball team. Anthony Lumpkin, who also serves an assistant football coach at Keith, will be the school’s new head baseball coach.

“We’ll have a lot of success with all the kids that are interested in playing,” Lumpkin said.

When Keith faculty polled students asking if they would be interested in having a baseball team, there was a resounding level of support from students who grew up playing baseball. Lumpkin said around 60 students signed up to try out for the school’s baseball team.

“We’re not going out there just to say we have a baseball team,” Lumpkin said. “We’re going out there to compete. We’re going out there to compete in all phases of the game.”

Keith athletic director Tommy Tisdale said Keith has not had a baseball team since the 1990s. Over the last several years, Keith hasn’t had baseball because there was nobody to coach the team and financial concerns.

The team is still finalizing its schedule, but the Bears plan to play 18 regular season games and will play most of its home games at Bloch Park.

Keith will be ineligible for the postseason in year one because they are adding the sport in the middle of the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s classification for the 2014-16 seasons.

When the AHSAA reclassifies schools again in 2016, Keith baseball should be postseason eligible.

Tisdale is a huge supporter of Lumpkin and believes he was the perfect man for the job.

“[He’s] a wonderful family man, great guy, seems to have a real good idea of what he wants out of the program so I’m definitely excited for that,” Tisdale said.

“It’s his opportunity to have his first shot at being a head coach. We as a community will support him 110 percent.”

Tisdale’s desire to add a baseball team stemmed from the drive he has to create a full high school experience for every student at Keith.

“We’re committed to building the total student experience at Keith from the first day of school, from academics to the whole realm of athletics,” Tisdale said.

At Keith, coaches emphasize using sports to teach students valuable life lessons that they can take with them once their playing days are over. Keith head football coach Harry Crum believes this for the football players he coaches.

“You think football is about football? It’s not about football really at all. It’s about preparing for life after football,” Crum said.

Baseball offers another avenue for the Keith coaches to instill important life lessons such as hard work and dedication to their athletes. Tisdale is thrilled his students are receiving a chance to learn those values in a new way.

“It gives our students another opportunity, and in life, all you want is an opportunity,” Tisdale said.

There’s also plenty of support for adding a softball team at Keith. That’s next on Tisdale’s list.