PROVIDENCE (WPRI) – Brown University’s baseball team has a sophomore pitcher, named Jack Seppings, who was recently named to the Great Britain National Team practice squad for the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC). Seppings has dual citizenship between Great Britain and his hometown of Newnan, Georgia. He has represented Great Britain before, as a member of the U18 Great Britain National Team. Ahead of the WBC, Seppings will attend minicamp in Arizona, where pool play will begin. From there, he will be on stand-by with a possibility of being added to the active roster for the tournament.
The process, according to Seppings, was a long one. Great Britain pitching coach, Conor Brooks, made his way to Providence to see a couple of Ivy League games with Seppings in action last season. Seppings also sent film this past year to give an updated look at the current level he was performing at. Though the staff had a familiarity with Seppings, he needed to refresh his pitching film to display the recovery from an injury related to a stress fracture in his rib.
“I was actually invited to the final qualifier tournament in Germany, the one that they won to qualify for the WBC, but I was still trying to get healthy after being hurt all summer with my stress fracture in my rib,” Seppings said.
“But, I’ve played with Great Britain over the last few years so the staff is familiar with me.”
In his freshman campaign with the Bears last season, he made his debut at a contest against the University of South Florida where he struck out five batters in two perfect innings of relief. He also had a big role in Brown’s first ever no-hitter against Holy Cross, when he pitched a perfect ninth inning to close out the win. In all, Seppings proved himself as a dominant pitcher out of the bullpen while picking up a pair of saves, only walking two batters, and striking out 23 batters, in just 15 innings.
Now a sophomore, Seppings will have the chance to be on another big stage and play with a mix of veteran major league pitchers including Ian Gibaut (Cincinnati Reds) and Vance Worley (Miami Marlins). Despite being one of the youngest on the team, he looks forward to the opportunity to watch and learn from the veteran presence that he will be playing alongside.
“I am really looking forward to learning from the older guys and really picking their brain,” Seppings said. “I have the opportunity to be around people that are at the level that I aspire to be at, so I want to make the most of taking it all in.”
Seppings will have to balance an upcoming sophomore season on the mound for the Bears along with his National Team duties. Brown opens on Feb. 24 at Georgia State, followed by a series at the University of New Orleans on March 3. After that set, Seppings will make his way down to Arizona. Although he will be leaving the Bears during that time, Seppings credits the Brown program for his maturation process.
“I credit so much of my development on and off the field to this school, and the relationships I’ve built here,” Seppings said. “I couldn’t be more excited to represent our program and all we are building here to win an Ivy League title.”
Great Britain is in Pool C along with Team USA, Mexico, Columbia and Canada. Games will be played at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. Great Britain faces Team USA at 9 p.m. on March 11 live on FOX Providence.
