Wells heading to Florida
The decision to take a step back in his pursuit of a scholarship to play baseball south of the border turned out to be a wise one for Ethan Wells.
The 19-year-old Pelham resident graduated from Niagara Christian Collegiate in 2022 and then took a gap year to try and increase his stock and expand his options.
The decision paid off big time recently when the lanky left-hander accepted an offer from New College Florida in Sarasota.
“Coming out of COVID I only had a couple of offers and didn’t want to commit to somewhere I didn’t want to,” Wells said. “In the last 8-10 months I’ve been contacting coaches, e-mailing, communicating, touring, getting my name out there, doing combines — all things I wasn’t able to do during COVID to get myself seen and then I accumulated tons of offers.”
After sifting through the offers and making visits to a handful of schools, Wells decided on New College.
“There were a couple of schools so it was a little bit difficult,” said Wells, who also seriously considered a Division 2 school in Tennessee as well as a host of Canadian universities.
“Choosing to go away from home is a big step,” Wells admitted. It’s far but my sister (Tasha) is down in Florida which is a contributing factor. Being in the States is tough but being that far south is also more difficult.“
The deciding factor came down to a chance to play right away.
“The D2 in Tennessee was really good and the Florida school has a much smaller roster (30) which is nice,” Wells said. “Tennessee has a 60-man roster and two teams.”
Wells, who is suiting up for the Welland Junior Jackfish this summer, feels he needs as much game action as possible.
“The main thing I’ve noticed this summer is in-game reps are my biggest thing. It’s so important for me. There is such a difference between facing live batters and in-game situations than just throwing bullpens,” he said. “I just didn’t want to be practising and throwing bullpens and then just get a couple innings here and there. I wanted to be a main guy and really progress as a player and Florida was definitely more open to that.”
A trip to the campus sealed the deal.
“The facilities are amazing,” he said. “Being there it helped cancel out a lot of other schools and funnel in the schools I wanted to go to. Online talking to coaches, you get an idea. They’re giving you their pitch and you get the idea the school is great and then it’s smaller than you thought and there are factors they didn’t point out because they want you to go.
“Being there is a world of difference and seeing where you’re going to be and where you’re going to be playing and training and talking in person with the coaches. You get a much better idea taking to people face to face than hearing a voice on the phone or a text.”
Wells feels the program will help him reach his full potential.
“They have a pitching coach and strength and conditioning coach full time and that will be really important for me. I’m locked into a meal plan and that will really help with my personal development,” he said. “The resources are amazing and everything is available to you. A year or two there can really show what my potential is. I obviously haven’t come close to reaching my possible potential because I haven’t been doing the things that I can be doing.”
The school also offered a sizeable academic scholarship with the possibility of a baseball scholarship as well.
“It’s a new baseball program with tons of scholarship money available,” Wells said.
Wells, who throws in the mid-80’s and also features a curve and change-up, would like to use New College as a stepping stone.
“It’s technically four years but I’ll stay in the transfer portal and be working my way up the ladder and go up to a Florida Division 2 and from there I’d like to go to a D1,” he said.
Wells will be taking prerequisite business courses which he can transfer should he move to another school.
Wells, who plans to leave August 20, said the fall season will consist of 12 weeks of training and scrimmages. A full, four-month season of play begins early in 2024.
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