Hanahan High’s baseball players are currently making headlines as the team eyeballs a chance at being named overall state champions.
Among some major highlights for this season is sophomore center fielder Sterling Coaxum being named the class 3A Player of the Year by the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association.
It is an achievement not usually bestowed to 10th grade athletes but onlookers and coaches will agree: Coaxum has put in the work and earned this recognition.
“I’m very honored and humbled, especially being so young as a sophomore,” Coaxum said.
Coaxum said he started playing baseball at the age of nine. He grew up playing different types of sports, but said he struggled with his baseball game the most – which ended up being his biggest motivator.
“Baseball I couldn’t figure out – I think that’s what kept me playing,” he said. “I always wanted to keep pushing to see if I could get better.”
Coaxum grew up mostly attending Hanahan schools and played on the Hawks’ B-team in middle school. He joined the high school’s varsity team this past year.
This year alone, Coaxum has hit 10 homeruns, including two on May 15, when the team clinched the Class AAA Lower State baseball championship with an 8-2 victory over Camden. The team’s record now stands 29-3. The Hanahan Hawks will proceed with the best-of-three state championship series this weekend against the Upper State champion.
Additional personal stats for Coaxum include a .465 batting average with 37 runs, plus 32 RBIs. He has an on-base percentage of .551 and a slugging percentage of .965. This year so far, Coaxum has scored seven doubles, three triples and stolen 28 bases.
However, Coaxum is not one to brag about himself and attributed the team’s ongoing success to the coaching staff, as well as the camaraderie between all the players.
“Everybody is pulling for the man to the right and left – there is no ‘I’,” he said.
Head Coach Skyler Hunter said Coaxum being named Player of the Year is much-deserved, comparing Coaxum’s character, drive and work ethic on and off the field to that of a professional baseball player.
“It’s the reason he’s been so successful,” Hunter said. “He works very hard and he attacks everything he does with a purpose. For him to be a sophomore, it’s impressive.”
Sterling Coaxum is the son of Antionette Coaxum and Clifford Coaxum. He plans to pursue college ball at Clemson University when he graduates.
Game photos by Cyril Samonte.
