For senior pitcher/third baseman JT Inskeep, this week’s VISAA state baseball tournament will be his final week as a member of the Greenbrier Christian baseball team, as he will be graduating, and moving on to Virginia Military Institute to play baseball in college.

Inskeep has been named to all-TCIS teams in both baseball and basketball, including first-team honors in baseball this year. Inskeep has been a star in baseball for years, including helping his 9-10-year-old little league team win a state championship in 2010.

For GCA coach Patrick Nichols, their relationship goes back almost as far.

“I’ve known JT since he was nine years old. I was working at a baseball camp and he showed up,” Nichols exclaimed. “I called a friend of mine who had a nine-year-old team and said, “you gotta come out and get this kid that just moved here in a military family.”

“JT is a special kid to me because I’ve known him and had a relationship with him for so long, so to be able to watch him and watch what he has been able to pull off, especially this week, having an outstanding week. It’s not to take anything away from any other player in the conference, but my personal opinion is that the heart and soul of our team, the player that had the best season, in my opinion, is on my team and it’s JT.” Nichols commented.

“He has grown as a leader this year, the ability has always been there, and I remember when he was a freshman, he is the only holdover from our 2016 championship team and the talent has always been there, but the leadership I have seen grow and grow, him and Gavin Younce are the engines of this team.”

The other half of the engine coach Nichols talked about, Gavin Younce is the closest to JT on the GCA team.

“He (Inskeep) is a hard worker, the hardest worker I know, and gets better and better every year, and it shows on the field,” Younce said. “He has been the biggest leader, and always has been since his freshman year, he is always the first one to show up at practice and the last one to leave.”

“We’ve known and competed against each other since we were seven years old and now we play on the same team in high school, I’m definitely going to miss him, but I’ll keep up with him.” Younce proclaimed.

Inskeep has one week left with GCA before continuing his baseball journey at VMI in June and is looking to bring another state championship to GCA before he walks across the stage.