For every year of his baseball career except for one, Hunter has been a one-sport athlete. He hasn’t played anything but baseball – except for his freshman season. That year, he decided to give football a try. He enjoyed the sport but he had always played baseball during the summer months, and summer football workouts cut into baseball. “I wanted to spend more time playing baseball. And I figured that it would be baseball, not football, that got me through college,” he says.
When Hunter Bramlett, now an 18-year-old senior catcher for the Coffee Trojans, was youngster, he should have been the best player on the field. His father, Jeff Bramlett, played four years in the Dodgers’ organization – he was in Great Falls, Montana, playing when Hunter was born in Cleveland, Tennessee – and was obviously a tremendous ballplayer. Hunter grew up in baseball stadiums and clubhouses. His first word was “ball,” followed by “Dad” and then “Mom.”
Everything was in place for Hunter to follow in his father’s footsteps as an elite-level baseball player. Except for one thing – talent. As a kid, Hunter just wasn’t a very good player. “We had a travel team in Douglas called Team Xtreme,” recalls Jeff. “Hunter was the kid you put in right field and hoped nobody hit the ball to him. He loved the game. He wanted to play. But he just wasn’t very good. It was discouraging for me as a former pro ballplayer. Out of 10 players, he would have been 10th.”
Team Xtreme’s catcher was Wyatt Miller, now a freshman offensive lineman at Central Florida who was featured in this same space last year. Wyatt began having trouble with his knees so he came out from behind the plate. That left an opening at catcher. “One day at practice, we asked if anybody wanted to play catcher. Hunter said he wanted to try it out. I actually told him now and tried to discourage it. But he insisted,” says Jeff. Team Xtreme’s coaches gave Hunter the opportunity; at first, things didn’t go well. Hunter took his lumps behind the plate but he refused to give up. He worked tirelessly at learning the position and the game. Before long, Hunter had become a pretty good catcher.
Over the years, Hunter has only gotten better. Last season, under first-year head coach Josh Cole, he anchored a Coffee High team that won the Region 1-6A 
championship and advanced to the Elite Eight of the state playoffs. What has been the key to Hunter’s transformation? It would be easy to say work ethic – and you wouldn’t be entirely incorrect. But lots of players work hard who don’t experience the kind of success Hunter has. For Hunter, it begins and ends with attitude. The one thing his Jeff and his mother, Allison, instilled in Hunter was to always have a great attitude. “They told me that in a game, I can’t control everything that happens. But I can control my attitude. I go 110 percent all the time. If I mess up, I don’t worry about it. I try to do my best next time,” says Hunter. As his father says, attitude and effort don’t quit, no matter what happens on the field. It’s a philosophy Hunter has accepted and embraced.
Baseball players have to come to terms with failure, both their own and that of their teammates. Hunter understands that and refuses to become discouraged on the field. That’s important for a catcher – the only player who can see the entire field and at the same time is a part of every single pitch during a game. Hunter understand his role and approaches every pitch, every play, every game with a real sense of urgency. “I play my hardest all the time. I treat every game like it’s my last,” he says.
These days, it’s about more than attitude and working hard, of course. At the upper levels of high school baseball, you’ve got to have some talent to crack the starting line-up. Despite his inauspicious debut a decade ago, Hunter has become an excellent baseball player. He hit .275 last season and posted a .996 fielding percentage. He also has a great rapport with his pitching staff; he knows how to keep his pitchers upbeat and focused no matter which direction a game may turn.
The 2015 season brings with it the same promise and optimism that comes with any new year. This season, however, is filled with even greater anticipation than usual. After winning the region title in Georgia’s highest classification a year ago, the Trojans find themselves in a new classification facing new opponents. Gone is a region schedule filled with Lowndes, Colquitt, Tift, Camden, and Valdosta. Coffee will face teams from the Savannah area – Bradwell Institute, Effingham, South Effingham, Brunswick, and the like. Ware County is also in the region, and anything pitting Coffee and Ware against each other is a fierce battle. “The new region hasn’t changed anything for us. It doesn’t matter what classification you’re in – there are always great teams and players,” says Hunter.
This year, he would like to build upon what the Trojans started in 2014. First and foremost, he would like to play his best and hardest. He and his teammates hope to add another region championship banner to the Coffee High gym. And they would love to get farther than the Elite Eight. In the process, he wants to set an example for the younger players so that the kind of success the Trojans have enjoyed recently will continue. “We want Coach Cole to have a group of really good players when we leave. Our seniors want to set an example for the underclassmen so Coffee baseball will continue to be good after we’re gone,” says Hunter.
And what does the future hold for Hunter? He has committed to play baseball for the ABAC Stallions of the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association. He plans to play baseball as long as he can – however long that may be – then become a teacher and baseball coach. He’s the kind of player who would make a great coach – the kid with a shortage of natural talent but exceptional work ethic who through sheer determination becomes one of the best players in the league. “He’s a leader on his team, in church, everywhere. He works with younger kids at church and on the baseball field. Hunter is just a fun young man to have on a team and around the house,” says Jeff.
Favorites:
• Major League team: Los Angeles Dodgers
• Player: Yasiel Puig
• Last book you read: The Bible
• Superpower: Super strength
• Superhero: The Hulk
• Person to meet: Tim Tebow
• Sport you wish you could play: Golf
• Place to travel: Africa
Player Spotlight/South Georgia/March 2015
Hunter Bramlett
Coffee High School
Douglas, Georgia
Robert Preston Jr.
Work ethic, upbeat attitude define Coffee catcher
