By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com
A day removed from sitting in the office of Vanderbilt University head baseball coach Tim Corbin, Andrew Dutkanych IV was in a rural banquet hall in his home state being honored by prep coaches as the best player of 2022.
Committed to play at Vandy, Dutkanych had a meeting with the Commodores coach in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, June 23.
“It’s always cool to go down to Vanderbilt,” says Dutkanych. “I’ve been in-contact with them for so long. It’s becoming more and more real as it comes up on the next few months.
“We were just talking about what the fall will look like if that’s what my decision comes to.”
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound right-handed pitcher who went 8-1, struck out 114, walked 25 in 54 innings and led his high school team to the 2022 IHSAA Class 3A championship game could find himself back in Music City in the fall as part of a traditional college baseball powerhouse.
Or Dutkanych’s name could be called early in the 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft (slated for July 17-19) and cause him to go the pro route straight out of Brebeuf Jesuit High School in Indianapolis.
On Friday, June 24 — the eve of the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association North/South All-Star Series at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion — and with parents Andrew III and Caroline and brothers Sam, Jack and Luke plus high school head coach Jeff Scott in the audience at Roseburg Event Center, Dutkanych was honored as the 2022 IHSBCA Player of the Year.
“Duke” knows many of the All-Stars from high school and travel ball circles. He will root on other South invitees, but he will not play in the games (two Saturday and one Sunday).
After his time in Marion he will head back home and be a regular visitor to the weight room.
“Right now I’m focusing on building some massive in my upper body a little bit,” says Dutkanych. “I want to get stronger up here and take a break from throwing.”
Dutkanych says he will coordinate his training with PRP Baseball’s Anthony Gomez will doing most of the work at the gym next to his house.
“The last week all I was focused on was the State Finals,” says Dutkanych. “It was obviously a heart-breaking (5-1) loss (to Andrean).
“But it’s also been really cool to kind of reflect on the whole high school career and the relationships I had with the seniors and the whole team. I just felt a lot of pride in the last week for just being part of that team for four years.”
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