LUMBERTON — After covering sports for more than a year at The Robesonian, Rodd Baxley has been named the newspaper’s sports editor.
The Bladenboro native will replace Frank Taylor, who on Tuesday left The Robesonian to work for a nonprofit publication in Asheville.
“I’m excited about my new role in driving the sports section of The Robesonian and I look forward to my opportunity to grow,” Baxley said. “I still can’t believe I get paid to write about sports for a living.”
Baxley played basketball at West Bladen High School and helped his team win a state championship in 2008. He later double-majored in Journalism and Organizational Communication at Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, where he graduated with honors in 2013.
“As a high school athlete in Bladen County, I had the opportunity to play against Robeson County teams on a weekly basis,” Baxley said. “Those experiences helped me tremendously once I made the transition to becoming a sports reporter in the county because I came in with some knowledge about each school and its sports programs. Being a local guy has also made building relationships with coaches and players a lot easier.”
Before joining The Robesonian in September 2014, Baxley was a freelance writer for the All-American Collegiate Baseball League and DNAofSports.com.
“Rodd is very deserving of this opportunity,” said Donnie Douglas, editor of The Robesonian, “and I believe his knowledge of sports and his love of writing will be reflected in the product.”
Jonathan Bym, a recent graduate of The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, recently joined The Robesonian as a sports writer.
