Will Peterson '18 Recruiting Profile

When I first tried out for travel baseball at age 10 I did not make the team. I was worried that my baseball career would be over. I had a choice: I could quit trying and move on to another sport, or I could work hard and try again. That year I practiced a lot.  My dad and I played catch in the field across from my house in the dead of winter. I practiced blocking in my hallway because in those days I was also a catcher. The next year I made the C team. We lost a lot of games because we played mostly B teams, but I learned a lot about competing. We were lucky to have two college-age coaches who were committed to turning us into a winning team. Our coaches offered us extra practice time, and I took every opportunity to work with them to become a better player. After two years I had made it to the B team. When I was 14 I began to lift weights during the off-season and worked hard on my pitching. During my freshman year I was on the freshman A team, and at the end of my sophomore year I was called up to varsity for the playoffs. My high school summers have been spent playing with two great tournament teams: NT Thunder (2015 & 2016) and the Diamond Dawgz (2017). As a varsity player during my junior year, I’ve contributed to my team mostly as a reliever. As my coach has said, he put me in a lot of tough situations because he knew I could handle them and get outs. This summer I have worked hard to put myself in the starting rotation.

I’m grateful to have played baseball for so long. I love the sport and hope to play in college. Through baseball I have developed persistence, determination, and strength, which has helped me greatly with academics and with life in general.  Baseball has taught me not to give up, to keep working toward my goals, and to keep striving to get better.