The Nansemond-Suffolk Academy baseball team is knocking hits out of the park in the classroom as well as on the diamond.

The NSA baseball team has received recognition from the American Baseball Coaches Association for its academic achievement. NSA was one of 97 high schools chosen for the honor on a list that featured more than 300 teams in high school and college.

Coach Joey Seal was ecstatic about the news and what it meant for the NSA baseball program.

“This is something that we talk about so much,” Seal said. “We talk about how you have to perform in the classroom before you can even consider how you perform on the field. It’s a necessity in our program. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of a team I coached and how excited I was for those guys, because they worked so hard.”

Seal mentioned that coaches often talk about players embracing their roles as student-athletes, meaning academics come first. However, Seal said, he asks his players to be both full-time students and full-time athletes. It’s a difficult thing to do, but Seal is thankful for the way the Saints have embraced it among themselves.

“NSA enforced this culture as well,” Seal said. “Our players adopt the philosophies of being full-time students and athletes. It’s great to see it happening across the school, and with different sports, it’s encouraging.”

NSA has also excelled athletically, in particular during the 2018-2019 season. The school as a whole brought home two state championships during the spring out of three total appearances in championship games. Seal he joked about the baseball team having to catch up.

“NSA is a great place to be right now with everything that has been accomplished here this last season,” Seal said. “Now we have to catch up now and get in one of those championship games and be in the mix. But it’s a great time for NSA.”

In Seal’s second year with the program, he coached NSA to its second consecutive state tournament appearance.