Young, versatile coach 'super excited' to be with Cape Catfish

The start of the 2024 Cape Catfish baseball season is a mere five days away, and the team put its final piece into place recently with the hiring of Nolan Davenport as an assistant coach.

“I’ve gotten the grasp that the (Prospect League) is a high level,” Davenport said. “That is why I am super excited to take the position.”

Davenport just wrapped up his collegiate career at NCAA Division II Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, Fla., where he helped the program achieve three consecutive winning seasons, including the Tigers’ first Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship this past spring.

He began his collegiate career as an outfielder and first baseman at NCAA Division II Erskine College in South Carolina, but after spending a couple of summers competing in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball Summer League in Myrtle Beach, where he also pitched, he transferred to Edward Waters as a pitcher.

“One of the first things that I wanted to let (Catfish General Manager Mark Hogan) know,” Davenport explained, “was that I could do anything that they need me to do, whether it is on the pitching side or the hitting side.

“I’ve done it all.”

The Kingsland, Georgia native will join the team at its initial gathering on Monday, which is followed by a practice at Capaha Field on Tuesday, before the team embarks on a trip to face the Jackson (Tenn.) Rockabillys at 7 p.m.

Davenport said that he and first-year Cape manager Phil Butler “hit it off on the first phone call” and he is anxious to learn from both Hogan and Butler.

“I have played the game my whole life, basically,” Davenport said. “I’ve had good coaches and bad coaches, and coaches have a big influence on players. We are around the baseball program, and the coaches, sometimes, more than you are your family.

“From having really good coaches, who have made a big impact on me, I’ve loved the game since I was a kid. I feel like this is my way of giving back to it.”

In his final season at Edward Waters, Davenport interned under Tiger coach Reginald Johnson II, who has won over 300 games in his 12 seasons with the program.

Davenport spent time managing the team’s statistics and budgeting for road trips, enhanced the lines of communication with the players in achieving the team goals and objectives, as well as planning and organizing practices.

He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Sports Management with a 3.9 grade point average and will complete his Master of Business Administration this summer while working with the Catfish.

“I think that there is an advantage,” Davenport said, “because of my age (23 years old), I can relate to a lot of the guys on the team.

“I know what they are going through.”

The Catfish will open the home portion of their season on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. against the Full Count Rhythm.

Cape is coming off a strong 2023 season in which it won the Prairie Land Division first half by seven games with a 22-6 record, which included a league record 12-0 start.

The Catfish finished the overall season with the second-best record in the Prospect League, going 39-18.

At Thursday’s game, the first 500 fans through the gate with a paid admission will receive a Cape Catfish T-Shirt courtesy of MERCY Southeast, Kenny's Flippin' Burgers, and Wats Not Pretzels.