After years of watching her son play baseball, Charlotte Brumfield has picked up on the game’s unique chatter.

“Come on, kid!” she shouted to Missouri’s right fielder at a March 11 home game against Youngstown State.

Connor Brumfield dug into the Taylor Stadium batter’s box. The first two pitches were strikes, putting the freshman leadoff hitter in a less-than-ideal situation. He then took two balls and fouled off a pitch.

“There you go, kid!” his mother yelled.

About 16 Brumfield family members and 12 friends were packed behind the third base line to watch Connor play. More than 3 percent of the 781 fans in attendance were there to see the Columbia native.

Brumfield worked the count to 3–2 then laced a single to left field.

“That’s a start!” Charlotte called out, celebrating with her husband, Craig. “Two strikes started that off.”

Connor rounded first base, his batting helmet covering his bright blonde hair. The freshman was doing what he’s excelled at his entire life: hitting.

Freshman Connor Brumfield swings at a pitch March 2 against Arkansas Pine-Bluff game in Taylor Stadium.Photo by Jordan Kodner/Photo Editor

When he started playing tee-ball, Connor called his grandmother Irma to invite her to one of his games.

Irma told him that she would come, but she said she intended to wear a cheerleading outfit and cheer him on with pompoms.

“Grandma, don’t say my name,” a young Connor replied.

Years later, the phone conversation is a running joke in the Brumfield family. Irma still attends Connor’s games and sometimes still tells her grandson that she will come dressed as a cheerleader.

“We have been watching him since he played tee-ball, and we went through all of that, and we made every game that we possibly could,” she said. “And it’s just so exciting to have him here playing for the Tigers.”

Connor played baseball throughout his childhood. He excelled with the game and nearly led his team to the esteemed Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, which is held for 11 to 13 year olds.

Craig Brumfield, Connor’s father, was his coach until he was 13 years old.

“Then the game got a little more sophisticated, so I turned him over to some other people,” Craig said. “We love baseball. We love watching him play baseball.”

At one point, though, Connor wasn’t as in love with the sport as his family. In middle school, he played with a team he didn’t enjoy. The Columbia native decided that he may prefer a different sport: snowboarding.

“I had just gotten back from Colorado, had a good time and I was like, ‘I’ll just snowboard the rest of my life and not play baseball,’” Connor said.

His father did not take the idea well.

“I about choked him out,” Craig laughed.

After an angry talk with Connor, Craig turned the conversation over to his wife.

“That’s where the brains of the operation came into play,” he said.

Charlotte, a teacher for Columbia Public Schools, explained to Connor that the lack of snow in Missouri might make a snowboarding career difficult. Luckily for the Tigers, Connor decided to stick with baseball after talking to his mother.

After considering quitting baseball, Connor Brumfield began the next stage of his career with the sport. He enrolled in Rock Bridge High School and tried out for the Bruins baseball team.

Connor Brumfield walks off the field on March 2 in a game against Arkansas Pine-Bluff game in Taylor Stadium. Photo by JORDAN KODNER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Connor Brumfield’s talent was apparent immediately to his high school coaches.

“The kid was born to hit,” Rock Bridge coach Justin Towe said. “He can fall out of bed and hit. His hand eye coordination and his confidence at the plate, I’ve never seen anyone like it.”

Brumfield’s talent earned him a place on the varsity roster in his first year as a Bruin. Despite his young age, he became the team’s everyday centerfielder. Towe said that, in his 18 seasons at Rock Bridge, only three freshmen have ever made the varsity squad.

Brumfield’s growth continued through his four years at the school, and he was named a Third Team All-American by the National Baseball Coaches Association in 2015.

As a junior, Brumfield led the Bruins to a state championship. He drove in the game-winning run and caught the final out of the title game in left-center field.

Taten Lyngstad, a current senior at Rock Bridge, was a teammate of Brumfield’s on the title-winning 2014 team. He feels it was fitting that Brumfield’s catch completed the Bruins’ run to a state championship.

“On the newsreel that I’ve watched over and over, it ends with him making the last out and everybody’s dogpiling,” he said. “That image always resonates in my head when I think about our state run.”

Lyngstad committed to play baseball at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, next year, and he said Brumfield helped him grow as a fellow outfielder and left-handed hitter.

“I was always with him,” Lyngstad said. “He helped me with hitting a lot and in the field, so I really liked spending those three years with him.”

In their four years working together, Brumfield and Towe built a strong relationship. Craig Brumfield credits Towe and his coaching staff with helping Connor build a strong foundation as a player.

Towe says that, if Brumfield keeps hitting well, he could have a bright future in baseball.

“He’s a guy that you knew he was always going to do what’s right on the field, and he was always going to do what’s right off the field,” the coach said. “He was a leader, and you can’t have enough of those guys and very rarely do you get someone of his nature.”

Photo by Charlotte Brumfield

Connor Brumfield has a long history with the Missouri baseball program. As a toddler, he threw out the first pitch at a Tigers home game. The family has a picture of a young Connor walking off the field with coach Tim Jamieson.

Jamieson paid attention to Brumfield as he progressed as a baseball player.

“We’ve followed Connor for a long time,” he said. “Anytime you have a local kid that does well, you really pull for him.”

Before the local standout’s junior season at Rock Bridge, Jamieson invited the Brumfields to Missouri’s coaching offices. The coach offered Connor a spot on the team and outlined the details of the program.

Brumfield verbally committed to Missouri that day.

Charlotte Brumfield remembered: “He said: ‘This is what I’ve always wanted to do. This is where I’ve always wanted to play.’ And so he didn’t hesitate.”

Jamieson feels that one player has had a big impact on Brumfield—junior shortstop Ryan Howard.

“Ryan Howard has been really good for Connor, because Connor is kind of learning how to work,” Jamieson said. “Not that he didn’t have a good work ethic, I think he always has, but that’s a relative term … being around people like Ryan has made him an even better worker.”

Senior first baseman Zach Lavy feels that Brumfield has been a strong addition to the Tigers lineup. He stressed the importance of having a strong hitter at the top of the batting order.

“He’s been doing a really good job getting on base,” Lavy said.

Brumfield is not the only Rock Bridge graduate who has made an impact on Mizzou Athletics as a freshman. Brumfield’s friend since birth, freshman Sophie Cunningham, has been an instrumental part of the women’s basketball team’s success.

The two families have been friends since before Sophie and Connor were born.

“Our parents grew up together, played softball together, so Connor and I have literally known each other since we were really little … it’s been awesome just seeing us grow in sports and our friendship as well,” she said.

Cunningham has attended most of the home baseball games. The two have supported each other throughout the year.

“It’s been really nice to have one of my best friends here as a freshman and us experience this together,” Cunningham said.

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Going into this season, Charlotte and Craig Brumfield did not know how much playing time their son would get. They had a talk with Connor and told him it may be hard to break into the lineup as a freshman.

Like his parents, Connor did not know what to expect. The freshman thought he would get an occasional start as designated hitter or in the outfield, but he did not envision having the role he does now.

“For me to bat leadoff and play right field consistently, I definitely did not expect that,” he said. “I’m definitely happy to be in this position.”

Brumfield has made the most of his opportunity. He has walked 22 times, second on the team, and has a .393 on-base percentage. He earned Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week honors in late February and has started 26 of the team’s 30 games.

Brumfield’s first at-bat as a Tiger was a memorable moment for both him and his entire family.

Though he grounded out, the freshman right fielder remembers how he felt in his debut.

“I tried to act like I was calm and collected about it, but I was very nervous,” Connor Brumfield said. “I kind of just took it all in and realized this is what I’ve been working for for pretty much my whole life.”

The freshman’s mother echoed that sentiment.

“I did get a little emotional,” Charlotte said. “It’s like a dream come true for him. He is a Mizzou fan and we’re a Mizzou family.”