Odum comes from a small town in North Carolina and was recommended to the Panthers by his high school baseball coach.

“His coach said he needed to get out of Lumberton and that he needed to be seen,” explained Hutchins. “He’s obviously got some skills and met all of our other criteria [so] he came on board with us.”

Fortunately for Odum, this landed him some interest from a couple ACC teams and a verbal commit to the University of North Carolina where he will play ball when he graduates in 2016.

“I’ve always been a UNC fan and when I first visited there and met the team and coaches it just felt like home. It felt comfortable,” said Odum.

Hutchins’ goal with this program is to make sure his players are ready to become student athletes in college, and said Odum is being prepared, along with his four other teammates who have also committed to UNC.

“We try to get them ready for college, whether it’s nutritionally, weight rooms, as well as the baseball field. We want to make sure when they step on campus they are ready to play,” said Hutchins.

Hutchins has yet to win a championship in the Perfect Game tournaments, and is determined to get one.

“We got beat coming out of the chute,” he explained. “Our goal now is to win every game. We’re gonna play every game like it’s already a playoff game.”

Hutchins has confidence in every player on his team, and is “aggressive about using everybody.”

“I don’t do that as a little league kind of a thing,” he explained. “I do it because every one of these guys [has] a roll and we get to the point in the game where we can use that roll.”