NATHAN BAIRD
Central Catholic senior Austin Munn was waiting out another dreary Indiana winter when he took a visit to Ave Maria (Fla.) University in January.
When he got there, it was 82 degrees and the baseball team was already playing. That helped sell the Knights pitcher and outfielder on the NAIA program, with which he officially signed a letter of intent on Tuesday.
"They play from Day 1 when you get on campus," said Munn, the reigning Journal & Courier Small School Player of the Year. "It felt right. I feel it's going to be a fun time and a good experience all around."
Munn has started for each of Central Catholic's three consecutive Class A baseball state champions. He also played on three straight football state champions, starting at quarterback for the past two.
As a junior, Munn batted .360 with five home runs and 32 RBIs and finished 9-1 with an 0.77 ERA. So far this season Munn is batting .371 with four doubles and nine runs and is 3-1 with a 2.39 ERA.
"He throws easy, and I think he'll be able to hone in on his mechanics by only playing baseball year-round," CC coach Tim Bordenet said. "His potential as a pitcher is definitely there to grow at the next level. He's not done maturing physically, either. When his body fills out, that will help him even more as a pitcher."
Munn, who also considered Franklin, Wabash, Manchester and Parkland, among others, is looking forward to remaining a two-way player.
"Last year I kind of thought I'd just be pitcher and started to focus more on that," said Munn, an outfielder when he's not on the mound. "The way the year went with my hitting and pitching, I wanted to do both, because I didn't want to stop hitting altogether."
No comments:
Post a Comment