With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the cancelation of all high school spring sports, local high school seniors were forced to deal with the abrupt reality that their prep careers were over. A group of these student-athletes were members of the Cincinnati Reds RBI program, many of whom were also regulars at the P&G MLB Cincinnati Reds Youth Academy over the years. With our Senior Spotlight Series, the Reds want to recognize these players for their efforts and wish them well in their future endeavors, both on and off the field.

During this time in 2019, Eddie Davis was heading down the home stretch of his junior year at Elder High School, uncertain of his collegiate and baseball future. Another season of summer league baseball with the Cincinnati WestStars was on the horizon and Cincinnati Reds RBI wasn’t even in the picture.

One year later, Davis is preparing to attend and play baseball at a place he deems the perfect fit, the University of Mount Union, thanks to a sudden switch to Reds RBI.

There is never an opportune time to discover that a team you play for will no longer exist. In 2019, Davis learned in mid-May that the Cincinnati WestStars would be folding. All the while, he and his Elder teammates were amid the '19 sectional tournament. From there, it was a scramble drill.

“It was very stressful, there were some days where I didn’t think I was going to play summer ball that season or maybe ever again since junior year is the biggest recruiting year for college,” Davis said. “But right before the season started, I got in touch with a few coaches at the Academy and got a tryout at the end of May. After the tryout, RBI baseball sounded just like what I always wanted.”

It can be difficult joining a new team, especially so close to the season starting. But everyone in RBI helped make sure that Davis felt right at home.

“My teammates and coaches treated me like they had known me for my entire life,” he said. “Everyone was nice, welcoming and friendly.”

From there, it was back to playing baseball, which is all that Davis has ever wanted to do. The goal has always been to play in college, and he started getting some looks from coaches and invites to camps during his junior year. But it was at last summer’s RBI Regional Tournament in Cleveland that everything started falling into place. Davis played his best game of the tournament against the team whose coach was also the coach at Mount Union.

“That game, I played very well and made some big plays,” he said. “I found out later on that after that game, he had asked my RBI coach about me. So Coach [Byron] Famble texted me that fall saying that he and another one of my teammates were going on a visit to Mount Union and he really wanted me to go. As soon as I got there and talked to the coaches, I knew I was going to find myself there for the next four years.”

For a school that may not have been on his radar at the beginning, the scale immediately tipped in Mount Union’s favor during that visit. The university offered Davis the business administration major that he sought, and he was impressed with the campus and how well he fit in with the baseball program and coaches.

Conversely, there’s no doubt the Mount Union coaches were impressed with what they saw in Davis. While he was a late addition to RBI and the Reds Youth Academy, Davis left a positive impression on everyone he worked with.

“Eddie embraced his commitment to the aims of the Reds Youth Academy,” RBI coach Roosevelt Barnes said. “He consistently has supported the RBI programming and its character-building offerings.”

Some of these high-character traits could be attributed to his baseball role model, someone Reds Country is very familiar with.

“Todd Frazier was always my favorite player to watch, I loved the way he played the game and how nice he was,” Davis said. “I met him one time, and he treated me as if I had known him for years. After my encounter with him, I always tried to treat everyone like he did his fans, with respect. That’s what I liked most about him.”