Worth County Rams star Denzel Gowdy signs letter-of-intent to play at Darton

ALBANY — Worth County High School third baseman Denzel Gowdy signed a letter-of-intent Tuesday to continue his baseball career at Darton State College.

Gowdy chose Darton over offers from Florida State, Winston Salem State and Brewton Parker among others.

“I feel like I can get my core classes out of the way my first two years,” Gowdy said. “I want to get an associate degree in business, and the coach (Scott Hemmings) seemed like he was ready to put me to work. I’m going to try to be the hardest-working kid on the team and earn me a spot.”

Gowdy said he drew inspiration for his baseball career from Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz.

“He inspired me because of where he came from.” Gowdy said.” He showed that you have to make what you want to believe in come true by doing hard work and staying on it 24/7.”

Gowdy had a stellar senior season for the Worth Rams, batting .593 with 10 home runs and 34 RBIs. He also pitched well, turning in an ERA of 1.43 with just 18 walks and 64 strikeouts. Worth County coach Will Smith knew he had a diamond in the rough when Gowdy showed up as a freshman, but much work needed to be done.

“When he came in as a freshman, we knew that he was a good little ball player, but he had a lot of work to do,” Smith said. “He fell in love with the game of baseball and really started to work hard to make himself reach his potential. By doing that, it really rubbed off on a lot of the other players.”

Gowdy’s teammate, freshman shortstop D.J. Edwards, says he learned a lot from Gowdy, and that Gowdy’s instructional style has been one of encouragement. “He’s helped me pretty good, and when he does help me, he doesn’t have an attitude. He’s always in a good mood,” Edwards said.

After Darton, Gowdy says he would like to either go to Florida State, or possibly Georgia Southern or the University of Georgia.