PEN Athletes Announce Early Commitments
• Peninsula High spring athletes announce their early commitments to college.
Five Peninsula High School seniors have committed to NCAA colleges to play their respective sports next year.
Michael Fuhrman and Matt Meskin have both decided to go to University of California schools to play baseball. Softball players Nicole Hay and Madison Denton have committed to Washington University in St. Louis, and Erik Boisvert will be playing volleyball at Concordia University of Irvine.
For Meskin and Hay, the recruitment process started early. In Meskin’s freshman year, he began e-mailing schools with his basic personal information, as well as what position he played, and his game stats and videos.
Meskin also attended baseball showcases where up to 100 scouts could watch players perform. In addition, coaches from schools such as Long Beach State attended his games to watch him play.
It wasn’t until his junior year that a school indicated interested in having him as a baseball team member. Unfortunately for Meskin, later in the season he tore his ACL, causing teams to lose interest in him as a potential player. With the help of his dad and his coach, he began calling schools again, and ultimately, Meskin chose to attend UC San Diego.
“I visited UCSD and was very interested because of the caliber of the school and baseball program there,” he said. “They were one of the schools I had been interested in since my freshman year. My goal since has been to go to a good academic school and play baseball, and UCSD was more than that. It is a great school, great location, and great baseball.”
For Hay, her recruitment journey started early as well, as she began e-mailing schools in 8th grade. By her sophomore year, she called and talked to coaches, and narrowed down her list of potential schools by key factors: a competitive softball program, a good business school with small class sizes, and a chance to be in a sorority.
Coaches from schools such as Dartmouth and Yale have attended games to watch her play, and while scouts at the games add pressure, she has gotten used to having eyes on her.
Student-athletes are tasked with juggling both schoolwork and sports, and both have come up with their own approaches as to how to handle it.
“I’ve learned over the years how to manage my time really well,” Hay said. From doing homework in the car to studying during game breaks, Hay has made the most of the time that she has. In fact, she believes that by working out and going to practice, it has actually relieved her stress.
Schoolwork is always the first priority for Meskin, and he makes sure to put homework and studying first, and then uses the rest of his time for baseball.
Meskin’s and Hay’s road to recruitment was long and difficult, but with hard work and dedication, they were able to achieve their goals and make it to the next level.
