with excitement of early invitation

By PETE SWANSON

Clarion Sports Editor

OWENSVILLE - The earliness of it adds to Eric Campbell's excitement about his first spring training camp as a professional baseball player.

The 19-year-old Gibson Southern grad, the Braves' first choice in the 2004 summer draft when they chose him the second round, the 71st pick overall, will drive Sunday to Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and check in Tuesday at his spring motel quarters.

"Most minor leagues won't come in till March 6. I'm one of 15 players the Braves selected to come in a week early," Campbell said Wednesday before going to dinner with parents Scott and Yuganda.

"I've heard it's an honor to be invited early. Among the 15, the only guy I know is Jeff Francoeur, an outfielder who was the first-round draft choice three years ago."

The 6-foot, 195-pound Campbell, Gibson County Male Athlete of the Year in 2004 after batting .511 with 12 homers by spring and extending his Gibson Southern basketball career scoring record to 1,221 points, expects to start his first full pro season at Rome, Ga., of the Class A South Atlantic League. That's where he finished the 2004 campaign, batting 3-for-22 (.136) in seven games after a .251 average, 7 homers, 7 doubles, 30 runs scored and 29 RBIs in 211 at bats of 56 games with the Gulf Coast Rookie League Braves.

"It's pretty much guaranteed that I'm going to Rome, although there's a chance I could start with Myrtle Beach (of the Class A Advanced Carolina League) if I have a really good spring," Campbell said.

"That's a little incentive."

Another encouragement is absence of pain from his right elbow.

"We do a lot more throwing in pro ball than high school, and I think my elbow was wearing down," Campbell said.

"In the Florida Instructional Lague, we had workouts starting at 7 or 8 a.m. and my body wasn't used to making 300 to 400 throws a day. One day with about two weeks left in fall ball, my elbow started hurting. Right away I went to a doctor, who took me inside and started doing therapy. I felt discomfort again the next day, so the Braves shut me down for the last two weeks. A specialist said it was from going from high school to pro baseball.

"Shortly after I got home around November 1, they had me go to Atlanta for an MRI. That showed inflammation around the tendons. They told me to take it easy for six or eight weeks.

"Now the arm feels great."

Campbell began off-season conditioning workouts with ex-Gibson Southern classmate Scott Williams about two months ago. "When Scott got home from college for his winter break. About every day we ran two miles, around the top of the gym in Owensville's REH Center.

"The last couple weeks I've done light lifting with my legs: Squats, extensions, calf raises. No upper-body lifting yet. The Braves want to see me in Florida before I do any upper-body lifting."

A shortstop his last two Gibson Southern seasons and most of his 10 weeks in the Gulf Coast League, Campbell is now a third baseman, a position he played occasionally in the GCL and all seven games in Rome.

"My fall instruction included charging slow rollers and bunts and making throws underarm," he said. "That might