BUCYRUS — Like other spring sports athletes, Kael Scott lost a year of his high school career to the pandemic in 2020.
Now, Scott plans to add four years to his baseball career at Adrian College. He signed his letter of intent to play for the Bulldogs’ club team next year.
“It’s really just a dream come true,” Scott said of his commitment. “I’ve wanted to play college baseball since I was you. It’s nice to be able to go and play at the next level.”
The Adrian varsity team participates in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, a nine-team Division III league. The Bulldogs are currently nationally ranked and have a good baseball tradition.
Scott hopes to be able to eventually move up to the varsity.
“Up there at Adrian, they have a great varsity program,” Scott said. “I believe they’ve won the past 12 years conference championships. Coach (Craig) Rainey with their varsity program is a great guy. They’ve got an excellent program. It’s just a baseball school up there. It will be fun.”
Bucyrus varsity coach Sean Maudsley is both happy for and proud of Scott.
“First of all, what a great kid Adrian is getting,” Maudsley said. “Top-class athlete, top-class in the classroom. He’ll do well there. He’ll compete there and that’s what he’s going for.”
Academics are as much a part of the decision as is baseball.
“I do take my academics pretty serious,” Scott said. “I have a 3.8 GPA, so I’d like to focus on that still and achieve a degree. They have a master’s program in what I’m going to pursue in finance. Doing that will allow me to play four years.”
Playing club baseball to start will give Scott more time to acclimate to college and likely get more playing time.
Even though he has come on as one of the Redmen’s top pitchers this year, he will be going to Adrian as a catcher.
“He loves to catch,” Maudsley said. “It’s his No.1 thing to do in life. He loves to compete, to be honest with you. But as far as position-wise, catching is his first love.”
He also made visits to Wittenberg and Baldwin-Wallace but chose Adrian.
“Both campuses were great, everything was great,” Scott said. “But with having COVID last year, the DIII rosters for NCAA are just huge now and a lot of teams are just looking for pitchers and I really just came across pitching. I’ve been a catcher all my life.”
“It means a great deal to me and our school system that he’s going there,” Maudsley said. “He’s the fifth or sixth that we’ve had go (to college for baseball) here in the last nine years or so since I’ve been coaching. So, it’s an honor. It always is an honor when somebody goes on to play at the next level.”
The Adrian club team plays a schedule consisting of junior varsity squads and community colleges.
“It’s actually club baseball so it’s not like I’m on the varsity team,” Scott said. “But it allows you to balance your academics and athletics. That was a big thing that stood out for me.
“I went up on campus,” Scott added. “Everything just felt natural up there. It felt like a second home. It was really just a great fit.”