By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – His original plan was to go as far away from home as possible. That changed when the school next door started to recruit the next-door kid.
Bedford North Lawrence senior Cal Gates, who verbally committed to Indiana University over two years ago, finally made it official, signing with the Hoosiers during a ceremony in BNL Fieldhouse on Friday evening. He’s part of a highly-regarded recruiting class for Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer, who signed 10 Indiana players among the 13 destined for his program.
Gates, ranked as a top prospect in the state, was named to the Hoosier Hills Conference team after batting .338 with three home runs, 15 RBIs and 30 runs scored as the prototype lead-off hitter for the Stars last season. He’s a strong outfielder and part-time pitcher who made five appearances on the mound.
“It’s so surreal,” Gates said after his two-year wait ended. “I never really thought this opportunity would come. Hard work and determination pays off.”
Indiana went 33-26-1 last year and competed in the NCAA regional. Mercer, heading into his seventh season with the Hoosiers, has helped the program produce 26 MLB draft picks, and three Hoosiers are currently in the majors.
“They are definitely changing the narrative of IU sports,” Gates said. “It’s more of all three sports (basketball, football and baseball), rather than just basketball.
“The original plan was to go as far away from here as I could, just to get the real-life college experience without having the ability to come home every day. I just fell in love with IU.”
Gates can now focus on his senior-season goals with BNL.
“This is huge for the program, having Cal go to the local university that everyone knows about,” BNL coach Steve McNabb said. “We couldn’t be more proud of him. When teams see us on the schedule, they think ‘That kid Gates, he’s going to IU.’
“He’s a kid a lot of guys look up to, not only on the team now, but the young kids that come to our youth camp gravitate to Cal. That dream could be a reality for them as well. Cal is blessed with unbelievable talent, but he’s also blessed with an unbelievable work ethic. That’s the main lesson kids can take from him. You can get there, but it takes that undeniable work ethic.”
Other Southern Indiana members of IU’s recruiting class include Floyd Central’s Blane Metz, Evansville Memorial’s Matthew Fisher, Evansville North’s Kellan English and Castle’s Noah Drake.
