(Editor’s Note: Dante is a 2019 graduate of Farmingdale High School, where he helped guide the Dalers to a postseason appearance. He recently announced his commitment to Queens College. The following words are his own.)
In my whole life as a baseball player, getting to this stage of playing was only a small dream I never thought I could reach. This past Sunday, November 4th, I decided to make the next decision to better my future and commit to Queens College. I couldn’t have been able to make this decision and get to this point in my life without my family, all of my coaches and my teammates.
Before I even learned about the entire recruitment process, I would occasionally flip to college baseball games, football games and basketball games and see kids starting to live out their childhood dream of doing what they loved most. That’s when I knew I wanted to be where they were. A couple of years down the line, I found myself in that spot of potential recruitment and one step closer to my dream. The process starts with excelling your expectations for school and creating a higher standard for your grades. Selecting a college that best fit me and my personality was one of the toughest things to do for me since I liked schools but didn’t think I could see myself on their team. The first thing I was always asked by coaches was “What’s your SAT score,” or “how’s your grades?”. Coaches wouldn’t even think about you unless they knew you were a diligent student who has self-respect for themselves and their grades. Which leads into the next crucial part about the process for me; talking to coaches. I always tried to create a reason to talk to some coaches at a showcase and create a way for them to remember me. One thing that stood out to me was a saying some coaches told me, “Never burn bridges,” which meant never make bad relationships with coaches even if you don’t want to go to their school.
As I began to look deeper into schools, my coach, Kevin Haverbusch was able to register my team in a Fall showcase/clinic that college coaches came to. Every Sunday for eight weeks, different coaches watched us play. A couple weeks down the line, Coach Reardon for Queens College watched me pitch about 4 innings and expressed interest in me to my coach. We eventually met and toured the campus for about two hours. I was able to meet some of the staff and the players as well as some of the students walking around. Coach Reardon explained some of the aspects of the program as well as my role for the team. He also described the academic rigor and requirements at Queens as well as the business program I was interested in. When I left the campus with the offer in my mind, I felt like I was leaving a second home. I was able to see myself there getting the education I wanted as well as living out my childhood dream.
