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Another Valley High School athlete signed to continue playing at the next level. Bryson Monteith signed the dotted line to continue playing baseball at Point University, making him the fifth athlete in the class of 2024 to play at the next level. 

Monteith’s recruitment came much later in the process than most other high school athletes. In fact, before this season playing college baseball seemed like something completely out of reach for Monteith. 

Monteith grew up dreaming about playing baseball at the next level, but he struggled to find consistency at LaGrange High School. Monteith and his brother Ty Monteith decided to transfer to Valley for Bryson’s senior year. 

That move to Valley gave Monteith the opportunity to really shine as he batted lead-off for the Rams and helped the team have one of its best seasons in program history. 

“It was always a dream for me, but it was hard at my other school,” Monteith said. “I fell out of love with the game. When I moved down here, coach Ryan [Meadows] and coach Mike [Meadows] were great coaches. They played the game hard, coached it hard and made me fall in love with the game. Then I went to Point and was given an opportunity. It was a dream that came true that I thought faded away. It’s just really exciting.” 

Monteith was not all that familiar with Point University before taking a visit to campus after the season wrapped up. 

After the visit, Monteith immediately fell in love with Point’s campus and with the way John Tyler ran the baseball program. 

“I went and toured the school at first, and then I had the opportunity to talk to the head baseball coach,” Monteith said. “The way he talked about the game, he loved it, and the way he talked about his players just made me excited. I just knew he was the guy I wanted to play for.” 

Transferring to a different school is challenging at any point, but transferring right before your senior year is that much tougher. Monteith had to adjust to a new school while also joining a team that had already built lifelong bonds. 

Valley’s baseball team was one of the more tight-knit groups in the state. Monteith was inserted into that group as a senior, but you would have been hard-pressed to guess that he had not been a Ram his whole life. The team quickly welcomed Monteith and made him a part of the family. 

“I could call them any day and they would come and hit with me or anything,” Monteith said. “They just welcomed me with open arms. They’re the best teammates. I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys. I didn’t know anybody, and I just came in and they took me in.” 

Monteith came to Valley and fit in, but he also made an impact. The coaching staff called Monteith the energy guy all season. Monteith was one of the more vocal leaders on the team as he helped lead Valley to the state semifinals. 

The lead-off batter for any baseball team is expected to be a spark plug. Monteith was that spark plug at the plate, but he also sparked the team in the dugout and constantly made sure that the Rams brought the proper amount of energy to the diamond. 

“This senior year, I had to make the most of it,” Monteith said. “I didn’t know I was going to play college ball, so I had to bring the energy every day because I played every game like it was going to be my last game. I just really tried to put everything I had into practice and games because it might be my last opportunity to play ball.” 

Being a part of Valley’s historic run meant the world to Monteith. The Rams were not the most dominant team in the state, but they continually won close games and brought excitement to Crestview Field. 

Monteith was a major part of that excitement each night, and he believes that the team’s chemistry was like no other. 

Monteith does not fully know what to expect when playing baseball at the next level because he never expected to have the opportunity. However, Monteith does know that he is going to put the work in to become a major asset for the Skyhawks. 

“I don’t really know because I never thought about playing in college,” Monteith said. “It’s just like a dream come true. I don’t really have any goals yet, but I’m going to work really hard in the offseason with hitting and stuff like that and maybe give myself some opportunities.”