How Trevor Ezell found his way back to SEMO baseball

Southeast Missouri State's Trevor Ezell high fives members of the dugout after hitting a solo home run during a game against Belmont on Sunday, May 13, 2018 at Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau.

Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian

Former Southeast Missouri State great Trevor Ezell never had plans to be a coach.

Yet after a year and a half away from SEMO, he returns to the baseball program as staff as the Director of Offensive Player Development, beginning the first step of his new career.

"We are very excited to have Trevor back at SEMO," Redhawks baseball coach Andy Sawyers in a press release. "He was a great player and has a chance to be an even better coach. Trevor has a great knowledge of the game, a heart for kids and I am pleased that he will be with us in 2021."

If it were up to him, he would still be playing in professional baseball for as long as he possibly can.

Ezell played five games in the Gulf Coast League for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019 before injuries derailed his pro career before it even started. Playing in the GCL was not easy for the uninitiated, playing in the backfields of spring training facilities at 10 in the morning or 1 in the afternoon.

The COVID-19 pandemic finished what the injuries have started and after the Rays had to release Ezell among a host of many other prospects after the cancellation of the minor league season, it was time to find a new direction.

“Had I not been injured I would still be trying to play,” Ezell said. “I had too many injuries, too many years too old so my time has run out.”

Throughout his playing days in high school and college, Ezell never considered coaching to be a possible path for him. Not because of his desire of playing but because the idea of constant concentration and focus on the entire roster didn’t appeal to him.

While Ezell may not have thought about being a coach, his coaches thought he could. Sawyers saw potential in Ezell when he was one of his best hitters. In four years with the Redhawks Ezell earned both All-OVC Second Team and First-Team honors after amassing 251 hits, 194 runs, 128 RBI, 48 stolen bases and 45 doubles while batting .336.

“They believed in me as a player and as a person,” Ezell said. “They’ve told me for years that they thought I would be a good coach if that was something I would want to do. Kind of the way that it happened with the timing, with COVID, ending up getting released from the Rays early in the summer it worked out.”

Sawyers invited Ezell to help out the coaching staff and get his feet wet during the fall. Ezell seemed to have made a good impression, as he will be now handling hitting duties.

There are still a few players on the SEMO roster that played with Ezell, such as fellow infielder Conner Basler, who is entering his senior season.

“It’s not as weird as I thought it would be,” Ezell said on coaching his former teammates. “They’ve grown up a bit compared to the last time I saw them.”

In between playing at SEMO and the GCL Rays, Ezell went to Arkansas as a graduate transfer in 2019. The Alexander, Arkansas native started in all 66 games during the Razorbacks’ run to the College World Series. He earned All-SEC Second-Team after batting .329 with 25 doubles and 49 RBI. His 19 stolen bases were the most in Arkansas since Boston Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi’s 24 steals in the 2015 season. He also earned SEC All-Defensive Team honors after only making three errors in 521 chances at first base.

“I think the biggest difference in the SEC is just the overall talent,” Ezell said.

SEMO also added Drew Millwood for the position of Director of Analytics. He was an assistant coach at Rend Lake Junior College in Illinois but his lone year was cut short by the pandemic. Prior to that, he worked in high school as a head coach and athletic director.

Both Millwood and Ezell will handle the administrative duties on the coaching staff such as stat compilation, analytical breakdown, video analysis, and scouting.