Former STLCC-Forest Park baseball player comes to Meramec to play ball
Nick Herrin
– Staff Writer –
Working two jobs, the loss of old teammates and coaches, and having to drive from the STLCC-Forest Park campus to STLCC-Meramec to play baseball could cause a player to lose his passion for the national pastime. The loss of a scholarship and switching from a starting gig to a utility role could even cause a player to walk away from the game altogether.
That is not the case for Cody Higgs, utility third baseman for the Magic Baseball team.
When it became apparent that STLCC sports teams would be combining due to financial limitations, players on the Forest Park Highlanders believed there was a good chance the team would separate.
Although the baseball team at Forest Park began charging for parking, Higgs admits that more could have been done to gather the finances to keep the team together.
“I felt like there was really a lack of effort to keep our program at Forest Park,” Higgs said.
However, Higgs said he is no longer in any way pessimistic regarding how the switch turned out.
In his final season with Forest Park, Higgs said he was dissatisfied after the Highlanders head baseball coach left for a coaching position at Christian Brothers College High School, leaving Forest Park with a coach who was unfamiliar in the head coaching role.
Now, Higgs says he is thankful to be reunited with his former high school coach and Meramec head coach Tony Dattoli.
“He was inexperienced and didn’t know what to do in what situations, and brought on in experienced assistant coaches,” Higgs said in reference to the Forest Park head coach. “But coach Dattoli is very knowleged about the game. He knows exactly what he is doing,” Higgs said.
Higgs has also had no trouble getting to know his teammates at Meramec.
“As for my teammates, I played against these guys in conference and I know a bunch of them from playing against them. I got to know the team and I just became part of a family.”
Although Higgs isn’t particularly thrilled with the prospect of less playing time, he has grown not only as a baseball player but also believes he has become more responsible, working two jobs while competing for innings on the diamond.
“My life is just baseball and work,” Higgs said. “But I feel like the switch is a lot better. I feel like I’ve become a better ball player because of it. I’m happy.”
Higgs has been practicing since fall with the team, and anticipates the team doing well this season.
“Our goal is definitely to win the national championship. We have high expectations,” Higgs said.
