Our hats are off to College of the Albemarle Baseball Coach Norbie Wilson.

Wilson was chosen earlier this year to resurrect the baseball program at the Pasquotank County community college. He previously coached 26 years at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia before retiring in 2004.

Shortly after being named coach of the Dolphins, Wilson reached out to eastern North Carolina’s baseball coaches and has already brought in four players from throughout the eastern part of the state.

College of the Albemarle has signed local student-athletes Jonathan Brantley of Lawrence Academy, Hunter Deloatch of Northeast Academy and Dakota Young of Bertie High School. He has also signed Robert Jacot of Perquimans High School.

Building a junior college baseball team from scratch isn’t an easy task. Wilson knew that when he took the job, but he moved quickly to get interest from local schools by sending their players to Elizabeth City.

Next year people of the Roanoke-Chowan region can see three of its own play at College of the Albemarle. That certainly is a nice drawing card for locals to become involved in the program from the ground level.

Norbie Wilson and College of the Albemarle have moved quickly to become a force in recruiting in the local area. He’s made it clear he wants players who want to play, wherever they play. That kind of thinking will lead COA to the top quickly.

We’re proud to have three players who will be Dolphins next year. We’ll be fans of the COA program and we hope you will too.