Been here a while and figured I would give an update on my favorite baseball player.
Son is a 2022 HS grad who committed to a solid program in a top 10 conference spring of his Senior year. Here is a synopsis I sent to someone I respect a lot here on why he considered entering the portal / going JUCO route last spring:
"Son is strongly considering entering the portal. He had 3 ab's this spring after starting the spring injured (hurt his wrist catching bullpens in mid january). He is not considering leaving because of the 3 ab's (they were against P5 opponents and all in less than 50 degrees against legit arms in the 8th or 9th inning). It is a combination of things but the primary is his feeling like the opportunity for skill development and growth as a baseball player will be difficult at current school. There was some in the fall and little in the spring. Son cannot get in a cage or somewhere to do individual work very easily. Pretty frustrating for son. Another thing was zero working pitching machines much of the spring...he wanted to work on hitting velo to work and not able...son is interested in going JUCO and his goal is to become the best player that he can become and does not want to look back after 4 years and have any regrets. He wants to go somewhere that development is #1. When we asked him if he would stay at his current school if he was promised to be a starter next season he said that he still would want to drop down and develop. Winning and playing are nice but his goal is to become the best baseball player he can be and is driven to do so. Son is interested in going virtually anywhere to see if there is a fit. He is playing in the Prospect League this summer (a decent league) and has changed from a C who can play OF to an OF who can be an emergency C."
Son entered portal, posted on twitter and all sorts of programs reached out from all over: D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JUCO's across the country. Many schools who followed him in HS and several coaches who had changed programs over the last 18 months. A couple of regular posters here were also very helpful with suggestions of teams to reach out to and look at from their years of experience and network. The list was quickly narrowed, calls and visits scheduled and by the end of June he committed to a JUCO in Iowa that has 24 hour access to their hitting facility with several machines to utilize.
He arrived on campus August 22 and starting using that hitting facility within 4 hours and became friends and teammates with a BUNCH of hungry JUCO Bandits wanting and working to be the best baseball players they can be! It has been awesome for him so far and he feels like he is improving. He put up some great measurables for him (ran a 6.68, improved OF velo to 90, and has hit several balls over 106 ev). He tweaked his hammy running at a PBR event (still ran under 6.8) and was unable to play in field and could only DH in games all fall. This was disappointing for son but he knew (and prayed for) that God had a plan for him and his journey. He did the best he could and showed well several times in events with significant #s of scouts in attendance in KS, IA, & IL. He had a couple of verbal offers and an official visit earlier this month but did not feel like any of those schools were the right spot for him.
Son had an official visit last week at a school that has been on his radar since HS. The school checked all the boxes that are important to him. Unlimited access to hitting facilities (they are great right now and will be even better by the time he arrives on campus next fall as they are building a new facility right next door and converting current facility to a pitching lab), warmer climate, difficult schedule (non conference SOS last year was 2nd hardest in country), dedicated baseball strength coach and athletic trainer, a history of developing players, and also have academic programs that appeal to him. They made him (and us) feel loved in all sorts of ways. They told him he was the OF that they wanted for the next 2 seasons and he accepted their offer less than 48 hours later.
Son committed to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. We are so happy for him and looking forward to spending a lot of time in the mid Atlantic watching baseball after finishing this year and continuing to work to become the best player he can be!
