‘Smaller’ senior season lands BC’s Goins at Campbellsville

 SHEPHERDSVILLE - Losing more than 50 pounds between his junior and senior seasons of playing baseball at Bullitt Central paid huge dividends recently when Curtis Goins signed to take his skills to the next level at Campbellsville University.

Mike Farner

Making It Official - Bullitt Central senior Curtis Goins is flanked by his parents and brother while Bullitt Central coaches look on last week as Goins signed to play baseball starting next season at Campbellsville University.

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In recent years it has been rare for Bullitt Central baseball players to find a spot at the next level, but Goins caught the attention of Tigers head coach Beauford Sanders and an offer materialized. Goins also had an offer from St. Catharine College and he visited Alice Lloyd, but opted to go with the more established program.

“They have been talking to me since midway through the (high school) season,” Goins said at his signing in the Bullitt Central library last week. “I had sent them a recruiting package and a video.

“Campbellsville just had the better offer,” the Cougar senior pointed out. “It was close to home. I didn’t want to go to far away.”

At Campbellsville, Goins hopes to major in physical education and coaching. He would like to return to the area and coach some day. It didn’t hurt his recruitment that he had a 3.96 grade point average at Bullitt Central with only one ‘B’ in four years.

Goins always had the ability to hit a baseball, but because of his weight, he had mostly been a designated hitter coming up through the Cougar program. Then, after his junior season, he got together with Bullitt Central trainer Jeff Pickett and the two came up with a work-out regime that involved both exercise and a healthy diet.

The results were spectacular. Goins lost more than 50 pounds. That allowed him to become an every day outfielder for the Cougars this spring and he responded at the plate with a .397 batting average.

“He says it was 50 (pounds), but it could have been more,” first-year Bullitt Central head coach G.J. Moore said at the signing. His parents told me he would come home at 2 or 3 (a.m.) after running six or seven miles. He had a serious work out program. It’s amazing.”

The 18-year old son of Jerry and Marcy Goins played five seasons at Bullitt Central and was a part of the varsity for the past three seasons.

“Last year I didn’t think I could play,” Goins said of finding a spot on a college roster. “But I worked extremely hard and lost 50 pounds and hit all summer. The summer was a big step forward for me.

“It was just about eating healthier and exercising and weight-lifting and getting into shape,” the senior noted. “Now I condition three days a week and run sprints and get in the batting cage.”

He is also taking lessons at the batting cage in Elizabethtown where a number of local players have work out programs.

Goins was always part of the baseball program with the Cougars, but he also played two seasons with the golf team. His younger brother, Casey, a junior-to-be, also does those two sports at Bullitt Central.

While playing for Bullitt Central, Goins never was part of a winning team. It was a better season as a senior, but the record was always a downer.

“It was very frustrating, but we still always had fun,” Goins noted. “During the year we beat some good teams like Ballard Memorial. We just weren’t consistent, but we had fun.”

Moore thinks that Campbellsville will be a good fit for Goins.

“They have a junior-varsity team so he can jump right in and play and then work his way up,” the coach said. “Nobody will out work him.”

Having a player step up with a strong work ethic and to get a college spot is a big positive for Moore as he works to create a better program at Bullitt Central.

“I’m real proud of him and I hope it rubs off on the other kids,” Moore said of the success. “We have some talented kids and they could do what Curtis did if they work as hard as him. I think it will rub off on them.”

Goins will be part of a winning program at Campbellsville. In 2009, the Tigers reached the NAIA World Series for the first time. This past spring, the team finished with a 32-21 mark (18-6 in conference play), finishing as the runner-up in the Mid-South Conference post-season tournament and then winning a game in the NAIA regional in Daytona Beach, Florida before having their season end.