Julien Shadle

After months of contacting different coaches and looking for the perfect school, senior Julien Shadle said he finally committed to the University of Minnesota Morris.

According to Shadle, high school baseball has taught him important life lessons for the future.

“It’s taught me a sense of commitment and team mentality and how to work hard to achieve your goals,” Shadle said.

Shadle said he prefered Morris over other schools because it fit his taste more.

“I decided on them about right after winter break this year,” Shadle said. “(I liked) the size (of the U of M Morris). It’s really small and the programs at the school are really good for what I want to do.”

According to Shadle, committing and getting his name out in the public eye was a long process, but worthwhile.

“First it was sending e-mails to colleges, just letting them know who I was and what I could do, what I want to do and hearing back from them,” Shadle said.

Shadle said finally committing to a college lifted stress of his shoulders.

“(I felt) relief, mostly relief, and just knowing that I had reached my goal,” Shadle said.

Head baseball coach Brian Kelly said he recalls his feelings of when Shadle committed.

“I was very proud of him because I know how hard he’s worked. I know that Julien will work hard and enjoy playing college baseball,” Kelly said.

According to Kelly, the team focuses on knowing their opportunities for college and staying in shape for the season.

“Our program works hard to get opportunities for our players. We send them to scout camps and have conversations about their goals after college. Most of our players do off season training with Aaron McEachran at his facility called MacStrength,” Kelly said. “Aaron helps use his connections to line up players with appropriate colleges. Aaron’s help in this area is greatly valued as he does most of the heavy lifting with our boys and college placement.”

Kelly said he has high hopes for the upcoming season and is looking forward to the contributions Shadle will bring to the team.
“Our goal for this season is to make the State tournament for the first time since 1954.  Julien will be a big part of our team’s success this year,” Kelly said.