Fifteen Clay High School athletes sign NLIs

Press Sports Editor
sports@presspublications.com

Clay High School has churned out some great athletes over the years, and 15 more athletes — spread out over eight sports — recently signed their national letters of intent (NLI) to continue their sports careers at the collegiate level. Universities across the spectrum, from the NCAA to the NAIA to the NJCAA, from large state universities to small, liberal arts institutions will be represented by these Eagle alums.
The baseball team led the way with five players committing to play at the next level.
Pitchers C.J. Boudreaux and Vinny Gallaher, who led the Eagles to league and sectional titles, are going to Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan, respectively. If the duo does well there, perhaps an opportunity in the minor leagues awaits.
Teammate Noah Schacht is going to play at Ohio Dominican in Columbus; Drake Sekinger is headed to Lourdes University and Grady Spears will play at Owens Community College.
Baseball coach Jim Phillips, who played at Youngstown State after his career as an Eagle, talked about his players.
“With our program, we stress fit very much. We want every kid to be successful. For us, we try to get them exposure, help with the recruiting process and anything they need support-wise,” he said. “In 11 years, I think we’ve really worked hard to get our players to get ready if they want to go to the next level.
“I’m super proud of our guys –– five guys out of 15 being baseball players. They’ve put in a lot of work, and they have bright futures at the collegiate level,” he said.
Phillips stressed the importance of academics for athletes hoping to play collegiately.
“Number one, they have the grades that gave them the opportunity to have the chance. Colleges are not going to extend money without the grades,” said Phillips. “I was a first-generation college graduate, and I wanted to continue to play, and sports were a big part of my life. I might not have earned a college degree without sports being an avenue for getting an education.”
Being a student-athlete at a Division I school comes with tremendous challenges, Phillips noted.
“With baseball season, you’re missing class in the spring, and you’re doing stuff in the fall, in the winter,” he said. “There’s traveling in season, I think you’re playing 56-60 games, and half are on the road. You’re leaving at noon, getting back at midnight, sometimes with having class the next day. It’s challenging – the travel component is probably the most challenging. It’s unique to baseball.”
Three Clay football players have signed on to play in college — Jacob Saurbeck (Central Michigan University), Aiden Cantu (Ashland University) and Luke Gibbs (Tiffin University).
Saurbeck is the third Eagle that will play at a Division I school.
Two volleyball players will move on, as Avery Young goes to Tiffin University in the fall and Adella Rodriguez will head to West Virginia to play at Fairmont State University.
Two lacrosse players will play at the next level — Kendra Stevens at University of Findlay and Alyson Walendzak at Lawrence Tech in Michigan.
Golfer Kelsey Osborne will play at Trine University in Indiana, Camden Williams joins the soccer team at Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois and Kaiden Westrick will run cross country and track at Trine.