Krawchuk commits to Purdue
In a time of great uncertainly thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Carter Krawchuk has his future mapped out at 16 years of age.
The St. Catharines native recently committed to the Purdue Boilermakers baseball team for the 2022 season after fielding offers from several schools.
The package is an 80 per cent athletic scholarship with the opportunity to add an academic scholarship to the agreement.
“I had a lot of interest from other schools, I had a lot of people call me,” said Krawchuk, who is set to enter Grade 12 at St. Francis in September.
He said Purdue made him feel wanted from the start.
“Purdue took a lot of interest in me,” he said. “I fell in love with their facilities so I decided from there.”
Krawchuk said the school took him on a FaceTime tour for more than an hour, which sealed the deal.
“I had a tour of the field, the dressing room, the feeding area, the campus,” he said. “I wasn’t going to make a decision unless I saw that. I didn’t want to go and be surprised. I want to know what I’m getting into.”
Krawchuk was blown away with what he saw, even if it wasn’t in person.
“It’s amazing. It’s always a plus having the best facilities out there. They definitely have one of the best fields in the NCAA.”
Krawchuk, who was named after former Toronto Blue Jays slugger Joe Carter, said he may have been able to secure his future even earlier had it not been for an elbow issue last year that set him back.
“A lot of my friends have committed to their school, even last year,” he said. “I was injured and really focused on getting back to health. With COVID, you never even know if they are going to school next year, or even the next.”
Krawchuk said he is “100 per cent” healthy now and his numbers seem to back that up.
According to prepbaseballreport.com, the 6-foot-1 right-hander normally throws in the 83-85 mile-per-hour range and recently topped out at 89. His slider are curve are between 71-73.
Krawchuk will have an extra year to work on his game after the university suggested he commit for the 2022 season because seniors have the option to return next year after this season was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Krawchuk is looking forward to the opportunity to perform at a major Division 1 school.
“They told me they play the best players,” he sued. “If you’re up there, it doesn’t matter if you’re just starting there or if you’re already a senior.
“It is a big stress reliever (to have committed) but I really am just starting. Now I have to prove to others — I know I’m good enough myself — that when I go I can start the first year. I don’t want to sit on the bench.”
Krawchuk plans to play for the Fieldhouse Pirates club team from Burlington in 2021 to prepare for university.
He credits George Halim at Fieldhouse and Stan Wilson with the Brampton Royals for helping him his achieve his goal.
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