Weightman Looks to Add Power for Colonels

The summer before his freshman year at Cass, Dalton Weightman was at a batting cage in east Cobb County getting in some extra practice. While there he and his coach noticed another player ripping off hit after hit. A conversation struck up and Weightman got a few tips, one of which–keep your shoulder inside–he sticks with to this day.

You can’t blame Weightman for not being overly excited at the time, though his coach certainly was. After all, even though Jason Heyward had just completed a stud senior season at Henry County High, he was years away from his current slugger status with the Atlanta Braves.

“We watched him a little bit then spoke to him as he was leaving. The swing he does now is pretty much what he was doing then. He told me to keep my shoulder in to keep my swing from flying open and read the pitch better,” said Weightman.

A three-year starter for the 2-1 Colonels, the senior has homered in his past two outings, both against Adairsville in games that Cass split with the Tigers. Setting school records with a .496 batting average and 44 hits last season was nice, but one home run gnawed at him, prompting Weightman to work harder in the off-season on his power.

“This past fall I was in the weight room working out as much as I could,” he said. “I’m going to do what’s best for the team and if that means moving a runner over I’ll do it, but if the pitcher’s going to mess up, I’m going to try and put it over the fence.”

Weightman’s baseball obsession came early. Born in Colorado Springs, he remembers playing as early as 4 years old with a team–“We were the Athletics,” he said–made up of friends from around the neighborhood. At five he and his family moved to Georgia.

A student of the game, the Colonel first baseman and righty pitcher watches professional and college games constantly, even recording some to watch later. He’ll often question friends on Woodland High’s baseball team about tips when facing a common opponent.

Saturday, Cass will play on the field connected to Weightman’s current power surge. It was only four years ago a hard-hitting outfielder and first basemen for the Henry County Warhawks–the Colonels’ 1:30 p.m. opponent in the Mary Persons Diamond Dawg Challenge–was finishing a career that would make him one of the top prospects in the country. It was only a few months after that Jason Heyward would give a bit of lasting hitting advice to a youngster at an East Cobb batting cage.