Clay baseball coach Garry Isbell intended to start senior Austin Achter in left field and play him a little bit at first base this season, but that plan has since been altered.

Ohio State baseball coach Greg Beals asked Isbell if he wouldn't mind giving Achter some playing time in center field this season in order to prepare him for that position at the next level. Neither Isbell nor Achter had any problem with that decision.

“Austin will play anywhere,” Isbell said. “He's a great all-around athlete and a great kid, and he comes from a good family.”

Achter's father, Rod, played on Clay's 1979 Class AAA state championship baseball team and then played football as a wide receiver at the University of Toledo. His older brother, A.J., pitched at Michigan State for three years and was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 46th round of the 2010 major league draft. A.J. is now pitching for Elizabethton of the Rookie Appalachian League.

Austin will be the next Achter to play at the collegiate level, at Ohio State.

“I made the visit to OSU on Feb. 3 and I waited about a week and a half (to commit),” Achter said. “I pretty much knew I wanted to go there after I left, on the way home. I called coach Beals and told him I wanted to be a Buckeye. It was a really exciting time for me.”

Achter was also excited for his brother when A.J. got drafted by the Twins last June.

“I knew it was a dream of my brother ever since he was a little kid,” Austin said. “He loves football and basketball, but in high school he found his niche in baseball and he decided to go to college for baseball. He had a great career at Michigan State. It's a thrill for me to call my brother a professional baseball player.”

Clay improved to 4-3 and 2-0 in the City League with Wednesday's 6-1 win over host St. Francis de Sales. Achter, who tripled against the Knights, is hitting .440 with two home runs, three doubles, five RBI and five stolen bases.

As a junior, Achter hit .444 with 24 RBI, 26 runs and 12 steals while earning first-team all-league honors.

“He's got a tremendous stick from the left side of the plate,” Isbell said. “He's got great hands and he drives the ball extremely well. He hits for power. He was one of our top hitters as a sophomore and our leading hitter last year. Austin has tremendous speed and, like his brother A.J., he's a class act. He comes to play and he's very coachable.”

Achter, who was Clay's starting quarterback last fall, said committing to the Buckeyes in mid-February “definitely” took some of the pressure off him this season.

“As a senior the biggest thing on your mind is where you're going to go,” he said. “I finally got the decision of where I wanted to go and I could sit back and relax.”

Achter added that following in his brother's footsteps at Michigan State was never really an issue.

“They looked at me a little bit as a sophomore and they kind of backed off,” Achter said. “It would have been cool (to go to MSU), but I wanted to be myself and do what I wanted to do, and whatever happened, happened.”

Achter, who has a 3.7 GPA, said he and his Eagles teammates have some unfinished business this season.

“My dad was on the 1979 state championship team and we want to make it to that point again,” he said. “We feel we do have the tools. With the group of guys we have, I think we're starting to believe in it more and more. I definitely like this group a lot. We've got some sophomores who are stepping up and we have great senior leadership on this team. That's what you need to get down to Columbus. I think we can do it.”

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