Landen Horn

Senior Brendan Lee poses for a photo in Room 151.

The road to D1 college baseball was certainly unorthodox for senior Brenden Lee, yet he will be on his way to the University of Evansville to play baseball next year. It was a long journey but he had gotten there. He still remembers that tournament out in Indianapolis in July. It had been his team’s fifth week out, and the recruiting process was beginning to wind down. 

“I was kind of getting worried,” Lee said. 

At that point, he had no idea where he was going to go. The weather forecast for that tournament had been bad, but the games were still going. There had been anywhere from 15-20 scouts at that tournament, and he couldn’t help but be nervous as he went in to pitch for two innings, throwing five or six of the outs. 

Looking at the screen, he could see that he was pitching hard, topping out at 92 mph, which was the fastest he had managed to throw his fastball. Before he could continue to throw, the game was delayed for the weather. 

Around two hours later as Lee got in his car and turned on his notifications, he saw over 25 notifications from colleges. That night alone he had calls with three different colleges. 

“I was kinda surprised, but I was also extremely excited,” Lee said. 

After that tournament, he stayed in contact with the University of Evansville, and in Septembe,r he was invited to tour the campus and facilities. 

“That had to have been my fifth visit, I think at that point, and you know, I really just fell in love with what they were doing there,” Lee said. 

A month later, he officially signed. 

For a while, however, it didn’t appear that he would get to where he is now. Coming into his freshman year, he played for the C team,to gain experience. Going into his sophomore year, he was pitching at 86 mph. However a week after tryouts, he went to the doctor only to learn he had strained his rotator cuff. He made the hard decision to leave the team rather than take a roster spot from someone else while he recovered. 

During his progression to get back to throwing, he was faced with another set back. He had strained his UCL. It would be 15 weeks before he could start throwing off the mound again. 

“I really reconsidered what my goals were with baseball, like is this something I want to do at the next level, if I even had the ability to do it at the next level. I hadn’t pitched successfully in a game since I was in between freshman and sophomore year in high school,” Lee said. 

Returning from injury his junior year, Lee didn’t think it was possible for him to play at division one level, but with help from PT Bob Zimmerman and Trevor Jones, the trajectory of his career changed. From August to January, he practiced almost six days a week. By January of his junior year, he was up to 91 mph. He made the hard decision to not play his junior year because he didn’t feel prepared to throw in front of college scouts, instead spending the time training for his next season. When the time came for his first game in two years, he was in Lake Point, Atlanta. 

“I was still getting better at remembering, like, I’m actually good at this. Even though I hadn’t played in so long, I’m still good at this game,” Lee said. 

Now Lee prepares for the high school baseball season, having learned and grown from his setbacks. He is extremely excited to get to play with UE and is ready to face any challenges that come his way.