‘That’s always been my plan’: How Baylor’s Caleb Hampton has achieved his dreams
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Most little league baseball is not fun to watch unless you have someone to cheer for. Kids are sitting in the outfield, running to the wrong base and throwing the ball everywhere but where they are supposed to.
Caleb Hampton was an anomaly. At age four, he would hit his first home run.
“That was very memorable,” Hampton said. “That’s one great memory I remember as a little kid.”
Hampton’s next mythical feat would come during his sixth grade year on the football field. He would score nine touchdowns in a single game.
“It was a back and forth game,” Hampton said. “I just kept running the plays the coaches gave me.”
Now at Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tenn., Hampton is a junior and still plays both sports. In August of his sophomore year, he committed to the University of South Carolina to play baseball.
“When I went up there and looked at the campus it just felt good and relaxed,” Hampton said. “I thought, ‘Yes, this is a place I feel like I want to be at.’”
The 5-foot-9, 205 pound running back/outfielder combo could possibly join the football team under Shane Beamer in Columbia. Hampton attended a game at Williams-Brice Stadium in September with his little brother, Joshua. Joshua is a recruit in the 2024 class.
“It was a great experience,” Hampton said. “I’m glad he got to see it too, because I didn’t get to see it at his age.”
This season Caleb achieved one of his biggest high school goals: rushing for a thousand yards.
“That’s been my dream since freshman year,” Hampton said. “I’m very proud of that.”
One man that was able to help Hampton accomplish that goal is his personal coach Gerald Riggs Jr. Riggs Jr. was a running back for the University of Tennessee in the mid-2000s that accumulated over 2000 all-purpose yards in his career.
Hampton was connected with Riggs Jr. through a mutual friend.
“We go back since I was 10,” Hampton said. “When I first went to him it was rough. After one year of training with him in the offseason, I could see a dramatic difference the next football season.”
After years of shaping his body for football, he is now reaping the benefits on the diamond as well with his unique strength for a baseball player.
“I think one big thing that stuck out to recruiters was that I’m a powerful hitter and I can run fast too,” Hampton said. “You rarely see that in a baseball player, so football really helped out with that.”
Hampton appreciates all of the help from his linemen and all of his coaches that have put him in the spot he is in today.
If you gave Hampton control of the script of his future, he would be a two sport collegiate athlete.
“Growing up I’ve always wanted to play both sports as far as I can go,” Hampton said. “That’s always been my plan.”
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