Oxford, AL – Former Oxford athlete joins Yellow Jackets’ baseball program as the county’s first female assistant coach in the sport
By Al Muskewitz
OXFORD – Wes Brooks has always embraced new ideas on the baseball diamond and Friday he became the master innovator once again. Among the three new assistant coaches on Brooks’ Oxford coaching staff is the first female high school baseball coach in Calhoun County and maybe even the state. Former Oxford athlete Anna Bolton will serve as the program’s tech/data/analytics specialist as well as having on-field responsibilities.
“It’s pretty neat to me, too; I think what I’ll be doing is very exciting,” Bolton said. “I definitely wasn’t expecting it, but once I sat down with Coach Brooks and talked about what my roles looked like and all that, it became intriguing because I love technology type things and that’s kind of what I’ll be doing.”
Bolton played all the sports at Oxford growing up. She returned to the school system in January after graduating from Auburn the month before and teaches sixth-grade math at C.E. Hanna Elementary. She’s been working with the baseball program since June.
“I really wasn’t going to do anything this year, but I guess he was pretty convincing,” she said. “I wanted to do something with basketball or golf but I didn’t have time and I just ended up talking to him and it just kind of happened.”
Bolton, 22, is one of three new assistants on Brooks’ baseball staff. Earlier in the week he introduced Dalton Rone and Brandon Slick to the community. Slick was the shortstop on Brooks’ first team as a head coach at Wellborn. She will be responsible for overseeing and analyzing the baseball program’s Blast Motion and Rapsodo technology, pouring over the numbers and presenting them in a relatable manner in an effort to make the Jackets’ pitchers and hitters more efficient, freeing Brooks to concentrate on the nuts and bolts of the game. [*** read more]
