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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

Coy James’ senior season for Davie baseball was too much to even dream about. It’s the sort of stat line you hang up in a museum.
Here we go: .604 batting average (49 for 81), 50 runs, 14 doubles, 4 triples, 9 home runs, 25 RBIs, 26 walks/hit by pitches, 21 stolen bases (in 22 tries), 1.222 slugging percentage, .704 on-base percentage, 1.926 OPS.
How about career stuff. The phenom who made 3-for-5 nights look routine tallied 153 career hits. He blasted 17 homers while playing half his games in a massive graveyard. He scored 143 runs.
The 6-0, 190-pound shortstop/leadoff man hit .409 as a freshman, .451 as a sophomore, .413 as a junior, hit safely in 26 of 28 games as a senior and led the state in average and slugging percentage in 2025.
Last week James picked up two huge awards – the North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association 4-A Player of the Year and the North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year.
Oh, by the way, he also carried a 4.18 grade-point average.
“It’s definitely pretty big,” James said of the Gatorade POY honor. “It’s a nationwide award for every state, so it’s pretty cool to win it. That’s one of the things I wanted to accomplish. This was definitely the coolest one.”
James could have left Davie and played for a stronger high school team or a big-time academy. But over the years, he turned down no telling how many overtures and stayed home. Breaking Davie records, competing with childhood friends and playing in front of hometown fans made the journey extra special.
“I wanted to build a legacy,” he said. “I made some of my best friends through the high school, so playing at Davie was pretty special. I could have gone and played on another team, even a National Academy team, and maybe won more games and a championship, but it was fun going out there every day with guys that I’ve played with since we were 8 years old in travel ball. We made the playoffs every year, so we definitely built something special at Davie. We went to two conference championship games. I wanted to break a lot of records, too. I really like Joey (Anderson, the four-year coach). My freshman year was his first year. Me, Drew (Krause) and coach Anderson had our 100th game this year. It was really special.”
James has signed with Ole Miss, but it’s up in the air whether he’ll play college baseball or jump to the pros. He’s ranked the No. 10 prospect in his senior class by Baseball America, and he could be an early-round pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft.
“There are some players who just seem to make the game look easy,” Baseball America national writer Carlos Collazo told HighSchoolOT.com. “That’s Coy James in the batter’s box. His track record of hitting is as impressive as any player in the 2025 draft class, including an extensive history with Team USA’s national programs. He pairs an advanced approach with a knack for barreling balls with great bat speed, allowing him to drive both velocity and quality secondary pitches. James also does a nice job defensively and on the base paths to embody a well-rounded profile.”
At least five pro scouts were at every Davie game this season. James personally met a scout or representative from 29 of 30 MLB teams, and “the one I didn’t meet with before the season, I talked to after the season,” he said. “They look at how you treat your teammates, they want to know who you and your parents are as people, and run out the outs and get times down to first base. It’s not just how you perform on the field, but seeing how you do off the field and how you carry yourself.”
Everyone in Davie County has July 13-15 circled on the calender. That’s the MLB Draft.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I know my mom (Heather) and dad (Matt) are ready to get there. They’re a little more stressed and nervous than I am.”
After keeping a whirlwind baseball schedule for years and years, James has actually been able to relax since Davie’s last game on May 6. He’s working out three or four times a week at Diamond Extreme in Kernersville, but he’s also playing some golf and hanging out with friends.
“I’ve still been doing workouts with teams and hitting, but it’s a relief that I get a little chill time,” he said. “With me going to college or getting drafted, it’s going to be busy for the next hopefully 15 years. It’s been nice. I’ve gotten to chill a little bit and play golf with my friends.”