\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMiles College center fielder Trey Rutledge is officially joining the New York Mets organization, a significant step for the Birmingham area baseball community.”It’s just an honor to be able to say that we coached a guy that came here and have a guy that really stayed down with the process and did what he was supposed to do,” said Milton Barney, head baseball coach at Miles College.Barney expressed that while it’s challenging to move up, he is not surprised to see Rutledge move on to the major league.>> FOLLOW YOUR TEAMS: Sports coverage from WVTM 13″Well, it’s very difficult to make it to the next level, it’s very few people that make it,” Barney said. “He just did everything that was asked of him and he just worked really hard, brought a lot of energy every day and obviously that translated into major league opportunities,”The Birmingham area has a rich history of baseball, and with the city starting its own Little League team, the next generation is stepping into the batter’s box.”For the past couple of years, you can see the growth in baseball here in the area, and me being a head baseball coach, just being vigilant, being in the area, being hands-on with the kids is a good thing for me,” Barney said.>> YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: Community coverage from WVTM 13Barney hopes to coach even more players to the big leagues as the pipeline to the pros grows stronger.”To the kids that are coming up, what we would say is Miles College is a place where you can make the next level and just work really hard,” Barney said.Click here to register for the city of Birmingham’s Youth Baseball Team\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tFAIRFIELD, Ala. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Miles College center fielder Trey Rutledge is officially joining the New York Mets organization, a significant step for the Birmingham area baseball community.<\/p>\n
“It’s just an honor to be able to say that we coached a guy that came here and have a guy that really stayed down with the process and did what he was supposed to do,” said Milton Barney, head baseball coach at Miles College.<\/p>\n
Barney expressed that while it’s challenging to move up, he is not surprised to see Rutledge move on to the major league.<\/p>\n
>> FOLLOW YOUR TEAMS: Sports coverage from WVTM 13<\/a><\/p>\n “Well, it’s very difficult to make it to the next level, it’s very few people that make it,” Barney said. “He just did everything that was asked of him and he just worked really hard, brought a lot of energy every day and obviously that translated into major league opportunities,”<\/p>\n The Birmingham area has a rich history of baseball, and with the city starting its own Little League team, the next generation is stepping into the batter’s box.<\/p>\n “For the past couple of years, you can see the growth in baseball here in the area, and me being a head baseball coach, just being vigilant, being in the area, being hands-on with the kids is a good thing for me,” Barney said.<\/p>\n