Personal Statement

I've been in love with playing baseball since I was a very young boy.  I had older cousins that would often come over for a game in the backyard. Because I felt I needed to keep up with the older boys, before the age of 3, I was able to toss a ball to myself and hit it.   One of my first words as a baby was "ball".  Athletics have always come easy for me,  and when I got hooked up with a coach of a travel baseball team at the age of 7, this took my skills and my dedication to baseball to a new level.  I stayed with this coach and team for 6 years and, because he was  a coach who focused on fundamentals and putting us in tournaments and game situations that advanced us as players, we all thrived in both the mental and physical aspects of the game.  I have many fond memories with this team and their families, with trips from the Midwest to Disney and Cooperstown, to name a few.  Unfortunately,  our coach moved out of state,  but  I've moved on to another excellent baseball program that has built on this strong foundation that I was so lucky to have been provided.

Upon starting high school baseball, I was not sure what to expect as a Freshman in a large school of over 2000 students.  After our first tryout, I was asked to come to more tryouts with the varsity.  Upon finishing up the week of tryouts, I was asked to play for both the varsity and JV teams.  Within the first week of games, I was ecstatic to learn that I had earned the starting short stop position, over the upperclassmen on the varsity team.  In my sophomore year, I have played as the starting short stop on the varsity team as well, and we have cinched the conference.  On my summer travel ball team, I am utilized as a center fielder as well as a short stop, and at times have played 2nd base as well. I enjoy playing all of these positions, and have shown to be a strong contributor at all of them.   I also play high school basketball, this past year I was on the sophomore team, but also play on the JV and varsity teams.  I have played travel basketball for many years, but have recently decided to focus more on baseball in the travel area of the sport.  Recently, I was happy to hear feedback from my basketball coach (to my parents) indicating that I was a very coachable & athletic player, who is willing to try any position, and do what's best for the team.  I feel this also carries over into baseball as well. 

In looking forward to college, I would like to play division 1 baseball.  My family is a middle class family so I would be pursuing financial support in both academic and athletic areas.   I would like to find a school that where there is a good academic and athletic balance.  I would be looking for a college that is strong in their offerings of academic support to their student athletes to ensure a smooth transition from high school > college and successful college academic career.   I would love to take my passion for baseball to the collegiate level and find a new baseball "home" for the next chapter in my life.