Mothers of No. 1 Ole Miss signing class have formed special bond
Barb Zabowski was out of her routine.
She usually records her son’s at-bats when her husband, Rich, isn’t in attendance, but they decided to let her avoid the task during the opening weekend at Swayze Field. Instead, she just focused on her son, Cole, as he took a swing, with a full count during the bottom of the second on Sunday against East Carolina.
The ball went up and eventually over the wall for Zabowski’s first career home run, and as it landed those who had come to know his mom well — and a lot of people who didn’t — flocked toward her in the stands to join the celebration.
“I had uncontrollable tears and was shaking,” Barb Zabowski said. “I was just enjoying the game, and it was amazing… In the parent section seats everybody was swarmed with hugs and high fives. It was a weekend of more first memories for so many of us.”
No. 17 Ole Miss’ sweep of then-No. 10 East Carolina featured four opening day true freshmen starters — along with junior college transfer Chase Cockrell — and nine members of the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class participated during the three games against the Pirates. Another, right-hander Will Ethridge, will start Tuesday against Arkansas State.
The heralded group was known for its camaraderie during the recruiting and MLB Draft processes, but it wasn’t just the players. The mothers have formed a bond over mutual worries and situations, leading up to the start of their sons college careers. The mothers of the freshmen players met as a group to pray before each game this past weekend, and they all assembled after months of building friendships, group text messages and teamwork to make sure all were taken care of.
“I can’t say enough about the families and the moms that have gotten together and stayed in contact and become friends,” said Genna Armstrong-Johnson, catcher Cooper Johnson’s mother. “Living in Illinois you know there’s that support system and someone close if there’s a need.”
There were a few preset friendships with four Oxford High School players, and a couple from Georgia who knew each other, but the bigger bond began at travel baseball tournaments around the country. They’d seek out other Ole Miss commits, introduce themselves and start exchanging numbers and information.
“We always ran into each other, and we put together a group text — the boys had one and the moms had one,” said Kris Dillard, Thomas Dillard’s mother. “During football season we share a (tailgating) tent with the Kessingers, and that became the official tent for all of us. During the official visit weekend we had all the parents there and enjoyed each other, tried to make sure they all experienced Ole Miss.”
When the newcomers arrived this past summer, Houston Roth’s parents hosted a cookout for the parents at their Oxford home. And the more local parents — not just freshmen — have shared their houses for visits and other needs leading up to the season.
And then on Friday, the group gathered for their children’s first college baseball game.
“It is really great to pull for your own child and pull for the other players who are trying to do the same thing as what your child is doing,” Grae Kessinger’s mom, Kelly, said. “You look and nod across the stands. You’re excited in the moment and understand you’re all walking the same walk together. It’s really special.”
And sometimes more than nod. When Zabowski hit the home run, Dillard, who was sitting with her family in a different part of the stadium, ran to the parents’ area to hug Barb Zabowski.
It’s only three games in, but multiple parents mentioned the journey to get to this point. It’s the end of the stress and the buildup and the start of the next thing. Their sons were among the group signing autographs for kids after games and finally just playing baseball after all the extra circular necessities of being top high school prospects.
They were greeted by strangers who knew who they were during the weekend. That’s a normal occurrence for player parents, but it was the first time for the newcomer families to experience it.
“That was something all of us talked about,” Dillard said. “There are so many people who know who we are. And people come see us. It’s an extended support system that adds comfort. It’s a special environment, and people care about your children.”
Zabowski echoed a similar sentiment: “I’ve never experienced so much community and town support around a program. I’ve never seen that type of outpouring of support and hugs from strangers for sharing my son with them.”
There were nerves, but mostly of the good variety. With the season here and the recruiting and draft over, along with the wait through summer and fall ball, the players and parents can settle into routine. And know they have help, not only from parents of players in the class, but also the extended group they now join with the families of the upperclassmen.
“I don’t feel like I was nervous, but I was overwhelmed in a good, positive way,” Armstrong-Johnson said. “I feel like part of my feelings were about the very long journey up until that moment of being in the stadium and him out there and getting the start and being in the uniform.
"It’s been such a long journey. To see him out there and have him reach another goal, it’s not that I don’t get nervous. I was more excited. He’s on a team. And he’s in a special group that reached this goal.”