By Sarrah Peters
News Editor
Paging Dr. Mayfield.
After a standout career on the baseball diamond and in the classroom over the past four years at Birmingham-Southern College, Jacob Mayfield recently received a boost toward his dream of a career in medicine.
The 2011 Westbrook Christian graduate recently was honored by the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame with its inaugural Scholar-Athlete Award, in which he will receive a $3,000 scholarship toward his post-graduate work. He plans to enroll in medical school this fall.
“The [BSC] athletic director (Joe Dean, Jr.) told me that I was nominated but I didn’t expect to win, so I was very excited and very honored when I found out I won,” said Mayfield, a Rainbow City native. “It’s always tough when you have three hours of [baseball] practice and then have to run to the library and study for five hours, but it was worth every minute and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I wouldn’t trade my experiences at Birmingham Southern for anything.”
Mayfield hopes to be accepted into the UAB School of Medicine.
“I’ve always liked the sports side of medicine like orthopedics, but that’s for down the road,” he said.
Mayfield has been a member of the BSC Dean’s List as well as the Southern Athletic Association Academic Honor Roll and was named 2015 BSC Man of the Year.
In baseball this past season, Mayfield earned Second-Team All-Region honors from D3baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and was a First-Team All-Conference selection at catcher.
Mayfield led the SAA and ranked 18th in the nation with 52 RBIs, and was third in the nation with eight sacrifice flies. He hit .339 with a .994 fielding percentage while helping the Panthers to a 37-12-1 record and a second-straight SAA regular season title and NCAA South Regional appearance.
As a senior at Westbrook, Mayfield was named the 2011 Class 2A Bryant-Jordan Scholar-Athlete winner and was the valedictorian of his graduating class. In baseball, he batted .587 with 15 homers, 34 RBIs, scored 55 runs and hit 20 doubles to help the Warriors go 26-10 and make it to the Class 2A state semifinals. He was named to the Class 2A All-State first team at catcher.
In football, Westbrook posted a 19-4 record with two state playoff appearances with Mayfield at quarterback in 2009 and 2010. Mayfield’s two-year statistical total includes 4,564 yards and 74 touchdowns combined passing and rushing. As a senior he was named to the Class 2A All-State honorable mention team while being selected as the Messenger’s 2010 All-Area Football Player of the Year.
“The greatest compliment that I can give Jacob is that he’s someone that I’d want my own two boys to be like. I had Jacob on the varsity since the eighth grade, and I’ve seen him mature both as a baseball player and a young man. He has a certain quiet respect from everyone on the team, not just the underclassmen. It shows you how much his whole family is committed to instilling and practicing Christian values.”
Mayfield maintains a strong connection with 100 Westminster Drive in Rainbow City.
He planned on assisting Westbrook assistant principal, athletic director and head baseball coach Matt Kennedy with tryouts earlier in the summer but was unable due to illness.
“Anytime Coach Kennedy lets me know, I try to help out. I really enjoyed my time there.
It really helped me out both academically and athletically for college.”
Publisher/Editor Chris McCarthy contributed to this article.
