Murphy High School had a impressive turnout for seniors to sign the letters of intent that were handed out on Nov. 8, 2017.

A couple weeks later, I had the privilege of sitting down with a few of Murphy Bulldogs best athletes. Royce Peterson, Caleb Irwin and Nathan Barolet were three of the scholarship recipients, who signed their letters of intent that day.

Royce Peterson love for baseball started at the age of four. He plays third baseman, which he said is his favorite position. Royce credits his success to his family and coaches, but one coach in particular is his one of his travel baseball coaches Tom Paciorek.

Paciorek was a MLB player from the 1960’s-1980’s. Paciorek has used his professional knowledge of baseball to help Peterson with his swing and form at the plate.

Peterson has maintained a 4.15 GPA while staying busy with travel baseball along with playing high school baseball. He signed a 4 yr scholarship to Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Ga. I asked him what he foresees his first year in college to be like, he said that he will be busy with training and his studies.

Caleb Irwin stepped on the baseball diamond at the age of four. Throughout high school, he has maintained a 3.9 GPA while staying busy with his high school and travel baseball activities.

He is a right handed pitcher for the Bulldogs varsity baseball team and his travel baseball team, with a clocked pitch speed of 88 mph. When I asked Caleb how he plans his first year at college to be, he responded with “It will take some adjusting, but I will be focusing on baseball, and my studies. That is the most important.”.

Irwin will be attending Lawson State College, in Birmingham, AL. He will major in sports management along with keeping up with his college baseball career.

Nathan Barolet is a varsity baseball player who came to Murphy High School from Hayesville High, for the possibility for more chances in his baseball career. 

Having changed schools a few times, Barolet has never let it kill his passion for baseball and has kept his GPA up. He has outdone himself by standing out in new schools and proving what he has to offer.

Gardner-Webb along with quite a few other colleges including UNC reached out to Nathan with scholarship offers. However, Gardner-Webb was more appealing to Nathan because he felt it was the best fit for him.

Nathan is undeclared for right now, but he plans to focus his first year of college on prepping himself for the first season of college baseball.

After sitting down and talking with these young men about their dreams and goals in life, I have to say one of the things that stands out about all three of them is how they have their priorities in check. The fact that these young men manage to accomplish this incredible high school baseball career, which led them to college, is absolutely amazing.

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