Blake Wolters鈥� dedication to baseball leads to MLB draft hopes
MAHOMET, Ill. (BVM) 鈥� The will feature 20 rounds, and plenty of talented baseball players will hear their names called. One of those players is potentially Mahomet-Seymour’s, Blake Wolters, who鈥檚 motivated to take the future challenges of his baseball career head-on.
Wolters has been playing baseball his whole life, but it wasn’t until recently that he began to take the sport more seriously.聽聽
鈥淚 always played it growing up, and it was just super fun,鈥� Wolters said. 鈥淏ut the past couple of years, I took pitching more seriously and saw what could come from the hard work. So, I started to love it even more, and it became a passion of mine over the past couple of years.鈥�
Although Wolter鈥檚 passion for baseball continued to grow, he had to put it on hold after his freshman season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Wolters received the opportunity to pitch at the varsity level as a sophomore, but he didn鈥檛 have the best year, posting a 3.02 ERA, a 5-3 record and only 38 strikeouts.
鈥淔reshman year, I went out for baseball and then ended up not getting to play because of COVID. So that was pretty frustrating,鈥� Wolters said. 鈥淭hen sophomore year, I wasn’t very good, got absolutely shelled my first couple of outings, so that season didn’t start off well.鈥�
Despite the initial struggles, he became disciplined on the mound, remained focused on his craft and worked to become one of Illinois鈥� top high school baseball players.
鈥淚 learned a lot through the failures and ended up pitching pretty well at the end of my sophomore year,鈥� Wolters said. 鈥淭hat’s when I really hit the ground running with pitching, and over the next couple of summers and during my junior and senior years, I was really dedicated and focused on pitching.鈥�
One person who taught Wolters to find that perseverance on the mound is his pitching coach Anthony Silkwood, who鈥檚 the head coach at Parkland College in Champaign.聽
鈥淗e was helping me out a lot over the years,鈥� Wolters said of Silkwood, 鈥渁nd he helped me get better and also was very motivating.鈥�
Wolter鈥檚 junior year was a reflection of that new mindset, and he went 10-0 and allowed only 23 hits in 60 innings of work. He also earned all-state honors, recorded a 0.23 ERA and had 115 strikeouts while leading the Bulldogs to the sectional finals. Following his high school season, he went on to pitch in the Perfect Game National Showcase where he was able to perform in front of D-I schools, but he had already gone through the recruiting process and committed to the University of Arizona.
馃摠 饾摙饾摬饾摪饾摲饾摦饾摥, sealed, delivered. Welcome to the Wildcat family!
馃彨 Mahomet-Seymour HS
馃彙 Mahomet, Ill.
鈿撅笍 Right-handed pitcher— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball)
鈥淭he recruiting process, I don’t know about other people, but I am not a big fan of it,鈥� Wolters said. 鈥淚t’s just stressful, and you got to do all the calls, and all that stuff takes a lot of planning. So, in my mind, it’s pretty stressful, but I had a good experience that summer going into my junior year.鈥�
Wolters was originally committed to Purdue but changed his mind and wanted to head to the Pac-12.聽
鈥淚 just let the Arizona coach know that I was pitching in a tournament in Georgia, and he was out there to see me,鈥� Wolters said. 鈥淎fter that, I got on a call with him and ended up committing, but that was smooth, and it was a good process.鈥�
While Wolters had to handle the stress of being recruited, he now has to handle the pressure of being an MLB draft prospect. , and he could hear his name called in July, but Wolters is trying to take it one step at a time and enjoy the process.
RHP Blake Wolters (Mahomet-Seymour, 2023; Arizona Signee) was dominant in the Bulldogs Regional Championship win against Lincoln – 7 IP, 1 R, 16 K.
Only allowed three hits and was able to get out of several jams with his sweeping slider.
Wolters holds a 0.43 ERA on the year鈥�
— Prep Baseball Illinois (@PrepBaseballIL)
鈥淚t’s a lot to deal with,鈥� Wolters said. 鈥淏ut you have a lot of conversations and talks with teams, which can be tedious, but if you really look back and think about it, it’s just an awesome experience, and not a lot of people are able to go through this process. So it’s a blessing.鈥�
Going through the draft process could also be overwhelming for Wolters, but he has many people to rely upon, including his parents.聽
鈥淭hey’ve been super helpful trying to help me figure things out,鈥� Wolters said. 鈥淸I鈥檒l be ready] when the day comes.鈥�
There are sure to be challenging times ahead, but as Wolters continues his incredible journey, he鈥檚 never going to forget why he started playing baseball, and he will continue to remember what the sport has meant to him over the years.
鈥淚t’s meant so much. It’s been a way to connect with others and a way to hopefully inspire the younger generation,鈥� Wolters said. 鈥淚 wanted to dedicate myself to something, and baseball was that thing, and it’s just been awesome.鈥�
