West Forsyth’s Greyson Jones commits to play baseball at UNC Greensboro

Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 24, 2025

By Jay Spivey

For the Clemmons Courier

Greyson Jones finished his junior season as a pitcher for West Forsyth just over two months ago, and his senior year is scheduled to start next month, but he wanted to go ahead and announce his college commitment.

That intention was to play his college baseball starting during the 2025-26 school year at UNC Greensboro.

“I like the coaching staff (at UNCG) a lot. I think their pitching coach seemed really good and seemed to really know what he was talking about,” Jones said. “And right now I think I talked to everybody I needed to talk to. I knew what schools were an option and which ones weren’t really available.”

Other than UNCG, Jones, who was just named the Pitcher of the Year in the Central Piedmont conference, said he had an offer from Air Force, spoke to Appalachian State and Campbell, and also received some offers from some NCAA Division II schools.

“I had a couple schools that I had talked to a little bit, but none really were as good of a coaching staff or quite the same baseball program,” Jones said.

Jones’ started seriously considering going to UNCG late last year.

“I went on a visit in December,” he said. “And then that was kind of the first one when we started talking, and that’s when they offered me.”

Coach Kevin McIntosh of West Forsyth has watched the whole recruiting process.

“I think it will relax and take a lot of pressure off of him,” McIntosh said. “You know, they’ve kind of been in the picture since late winter, right before the spring started. And you know, it’s one of those things that he felt like it was the right choice, and I think it’s good to go ahead and get that out of the way.”

The first conversations the coaching staff at UNCG had with Jones stuck with him.

“They talked a lot about how they were big on throwing strikes and that velo didn’t matter a ton,” Jones said. “They knew I threw four pitches for strikes, so that’s what they liked.”

Jones said his four pitches are fastball, slider, curveball and changeup.

“(The UNCG coach) would come to some of the games and watch me pitch occasionally, and he’d text me and tell me I was doing well and all that,” Jones said. “And then they had a camp (last week), so I thought it was probably about the right time to accept their offer.”

The pressure is off of Jones before the 2025-26 school year even starts.

“I don’t got to worry about it too much anymore,” Jones said.

There was another reason to make the decision now, and that transpired throughout this past season at West Forsyth.

“It was probably different than a lot of other people,” Jones said. “I didn’t have a ton of offers or anything like that. So, I was more about just trying to get my stats and prove that I could get outs and win the games.”

Much like many other pitchers at all levels of baseball, Jones believes there is one reason he wasn’t getting the recruiting nibbles that maybe some other pitchers were.

“I think velo is a big part of it,” he said. “I think a lot of schools put a huge emphasis on velo and how hard you throw.”

According to Jones, his fastball topped off at 90 mph earlier this summer.

“I get it,” he said. “Ninety-four is a lot harder to hit than 90. I mean it’s definitely annoying at times, especially when the only thing they have to say that’s bad is, ‘You don’t throw hard enough.'”

Most college recruiters and pro scouts are looking for high-velocity fastballs and high spin rates. 

“I think that was the big thing with Greyson and his recruiting path was, he’s not 92, 93, 94, but he gets outs,” McIntosh said. “And that was my thing. Every time I would talk to somebody I would say, ‘Guys, the kid just gets outs. He’s a competitor. And he’s who you want on the mound, and he’s going to figure it out and he’s going to get outs.'”

McIntosh’s conversations with the coaching staff at UNCG may have paid dividends.

“He’s two-time all-state, pitcher of the year as a junior, conference pitcher of the year as a junior,” McIntosh said. “I said, ‘The accolades. Look at his stats. Look at his ERA. Look at his strikeouts. He just gets outs. And he knows how to pitch. And he throws multiple pitches for strikes.’ I think UNCG is getting a steal.”

Jones was the No. 1 starter for West Forsyth this past spring.

“I’ve just been trying to get better and get better at what I do and not worry so much about getting better velo-wise. If I get better at that, I might not develop the same way that if I just try to get my stuff better and be in the zone more,” he said. 

Just like most high school players, pitching is a work in progress.

“It (fastball) has gotten quite a bit better,” Jones said. “It’s probably gone up 2, 3 miles an hour every year I’ve been in high school. I was topping 81 my freshman year.”

The perception of college recruiters has always stuck with him.

“It’s definitely frustrating when that’s the biggest knock,” Jones said. “But I’ve just got to get better at what I do and prove that I can get outs at the highest level. That’ll help.”

Jones certainly proved a lot of doubters wrong this past season. He had two no-hitters, and against Reynolds, Jones had 14 strikeouts and had one walk.

“I was trying not to think about it the whole time, especially going into the fifth and sixth and I had a perfect game going,” he said. “It was tough to now think about it and just try and stay in the zone.”

Not thinking about the possibility of a no-hitter was hard.

“I would say I didn’t really think about it (perfect) until the fourth or fifth, and I was looking at the lineup and I realized I’d only faced nine batters and it was the fourth inning or something,” Jones said. 

The perfect game ended in the seventh inning after he walked a batter for Reynolds.

“I decided not to worry about it,” Jones said. “But I was a little bit upset because I missed it by four inches on a fastball up.”

Jones realized he was still pitching for something and composed himself.

“I just realized I still had a no-hitter going, so it could definitely be worse,” he said. 

There was a small celebration after the game in which West Forsyth defeated Reynolds 8-0.

“I would say most of the team knew (about the no-hitter),” Jones said. “I mean, I was pretty happy, but still there were a couple guys that didn’t know. I got the game ball and our coach (McIntosh) talked about it for a minute.”

His second no-hitter of the season was against Mount Tabor, but the game was shortened to five innings because of the mercy rule and West Forsyth won 13-0.

“It still counts, but it’s not quite as impressive,” Jones said. “I wasn’t quite as happy with that one. I didn’t feel as great and I was a little bit wild. I had a couple walks. Not like I usually am, so I would say it was effectively wild. But I didn’t feel like I was on that day, so it’s nice to know that even though I wasn’t on I was still pretty good.”

Being the No. 1 starter for a high school team also means that starting on Tuesday helps when the team faces the same opponent on Friday during the conference portion of the season.

“It’s definitely big to get momentum and, especially when we’re starting away and we’re playing away on Tuesday,” Jones said. “It’s definitely important to get momentum to come back to our place and have momentum on our side.”

Jones finished the season with a bang. In his final start of the season, which was in the third round of the NCHSAA Class 4-A playoffs, West Forsyth defeated South Iredell 2-1.

“Going into this year knowing that he was going to be our No. 1, going into next year obviously knowing he’s going to be our No. 1, it’s a great feeling,” McIntosh said. “Greyson is one of those kids that’s just a competitor. And he’s going to go out there and give it 105 pitches if that’s what he’s able to do that night. Things worked out and that’s what Greyson wants to do every time.

“In his mind, he wants to throw a seven-inning complete ballgame every time he goes out. And that’s just a mentality that in today’s game you don’t see very often.”

Jones will likely be the No. 1 starter next season, meaning that he will start on Tuesday nights.

“It was a little bit difficult at times, especially when I know that I’ve got to go out there and do my best to give us a chance, especially the whole week,” he said. “Lucas (Alderman) did really good on Fridays, but you never know what’s going to happen when it’s not in my control. I don’t know what’s going to happen, so I’ve just got to go out there and try to lead to be the best to help our team for the rest of the season.”

In the win against South Iredell, Jones gave up one unearned run on three base hits with eight strikeouts and no walks. Shortly thereafter, Jones was named Pitcher of the Year in the Central Piedmont 4-A.

“It meant a lot, especially with who had won it before in the last couple years,” Jones said. “It was guys going to Wake Forest and UNC and all that.”

Even though next season doesn’t start until February, Jones is firmly the No. 1 starter for West Forsyth. The conference will also look different after NCHSAA realignment with Davie County, Glenn, and Mount Tabor joining other conferences, and Northwest Guilford joining the conference.

“Greyson always wants to be better the next year,” McIntosh said. “Coming off a sophomore year with great numbers, he answered that as a junior. Going into next year, I’m sure his goals will be even higher, even better. And I don’t see any obstacles out there that will prevent him from achieving whatever individual, and obviously team goals, that he sets for us and goes into things.”

Although Jones was Pitcher of the Year in the Central Piedmont 4-A this past season and helped the Titans to a record of 23-5 overall, next season for him could be even better.

“It’ll be less about having to prove it to somebody and just going out there and trying to win games for my team and helping my team out in whatever way, and not having to worry about what coaches are saying or what coaches are coming to the games and all that kind of stuff,” he said.