Brock Godwin’s journey to the Barton College Athletic Hall of Fame is a story about overcoming obstacles to achieve greatness.
At age 10, he was diagnosed with a juvenile form of arthritis, and there were concerns from doctors that he might not ever be able to play sports again. A few years later, he was not only playing, but earning a starting spot on the varsity baseball team at Fike High School as a freshman.
One year later, he was a self-described “135-pound sophomore wearing glasses” who was handed the ball for the pitching start in Fike’s most important game in years – the decisive third game of the 3A state championship series. Despite facing an imposing T.C. Roberson lineup that had gone unbeaten in the regular season, Godwin tossed five strong innings, handing the lead to Fike’s closer and going back to shortstop, where he fielded the final out as the Demons clinched the state title.
After earning conference player of the year honors in both his junior and senior seasons at Fike, Godwin joined the Bulldogs and immediately contributed, starting in 56 games and leading the team in runs scored with 50.
However, Godwin was not done facing adversity. Although he had produced an all-conference sophomore campaign, he had done so while playing through an injury to his throwing arm early in his freshman year. That injury eventually led to Tommy John surgery and a redshirt season in 2004.
He came back to post solid numbers as a junior in 2005, but it wasn’t until the next year when his arm fully recovered.
That 2006 campaign turned into one of the best in school history.
In his senior season, Godwin batted .404 while collecting 88 hits, which still stands as the school’s single season record in the NCAA Division II era. He only struck out nine times and drove in 44 runs. On the mound, he posted a perfect 8-0 record and added a pair of saves.
“It just kind of all came together that season,” Godwin says. “It had been my freshman year since I had been able to pitch and play short, and it brought me back to my high school days where I could play both positions without any kind of pain in my arm. I could just go out there and play the game I love instead of having to worry about how many throws I was going to make, and if I made over a certain amount, having to put ice on my arm. It was great just being able to go out and enjoy the game, have fun with my teammates.”
Godwin was named the Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference (CVAC) Athlete of the Year, which encompasses all sports – becoming one of just three Barton males to earn the honor in the Division II era. He also became the first (and still only) player from Barton to be selected as an NCAA Division II First-Team All-American.
“It’s a tremendous accomplishment,” he said. “There’s been so many great players at Barton. It’s difficult to put into words considering some of the things I’ve had to overcome. It’s a tremendous honor, and I can only thank my coaches and my teammates for allowing me to be the player I turned out to be.”
A year later, he was named to the All-Time CVAC Baseball Team. His all-encompassing impact on Barton can be captured statistically in the fact that he is the only player in BC’s Division II history to rank among the school’s top 10 in both career batting average (.342) and pitching earned run average (4.24).
“Brock was the whole package,” his Barton coach, Todd Wilkinson, says. “He could do so much on the field, plus he was the glue who held things together. He was the leader.”
Wilkinson said Godwin’s impact on the program went well beyond his many individual contributions.
“When I got here to Wilson, Brock had been a sophomore on that Fike team and had pitched them to the state championship,” Wilkinson said. “He was a key player, so he was immediately a target for me. To have Brock want to stay in town and want to go to Barton College and play for Barton College was a real key moment in recruiting what became a championship team.”
That opportunity to leave a lasting legacy at Barton had been a key factor in his decision to stay at home and play, Godwin said.
“Part of it was I felt like I could go to Barton and really help turn the program around,” he said. “When Coach Wilkinson came to our house and sat with my parents and I to discuss what he was trying to do at Barton, what he was telling me sounded like the perfect fit. … Being a competitor and wanting to be on the field influenced my decision, but also Coach Wilkinson wanting to turn the program around. Him selling me on me and some other guys being key pieces in doing that was definitely something I had taken into consideration.”
On October 21, that decision will be cemented with his induction into the Barton College Athletic Hall of Fame.
“To go from a doctor telling you that you might not be able to play sports again to reaching pretty much as high as you can at the collegiate level, being inducted by my alma mater into the hall of fame, is quite an accomplishment, and it does mean an awful lot to me.”
