Junior Austin Crew runs off the diamond as the inning changes on Aug. 27, 2023. Photo used with permission from Kaci Tellefsen.

Walking up to the diamond, junior Austin Crew looks around and sees what his future holds. 

“I’ve been playing baseball since I can remember,” said Austin. “I chose baseball because it has always been a challenging sport and in my opinion, you have to fail in order to succeed.” 

On Dec. 31, 2023, Austin announced he will be continuing his academic and athletic career at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) a Division 1 (D1) university. 

After receiving a $15,000 scholarship, he committed to the university for his baseball skills. 

“I chose VMI because I thought that it would be the best fit for me and with the research I’ve done for VMI, I know I will excel there,” said Austin. 

Only 1-2% of high school athletes receive any form of scholarship to D1 universities, according to signaturecollegecounseling.com. 

“Since middle school, we have always dreamed of playing college baseball. We always talked about it. Watching him accomplish this is amazing and I’m super proud of him,” said junior Ryan Gocio. 

Although many people push Austin to be the best be can, his mother, in particular, is one of his greatest supporters and inspirations. When Austin needs someone to throw with or someone to throw to him at batting practice, his mom is always there. 

“My mom inspires me to play the way I do because she has always been there for me and always has told me to play with a chip on my shoulder,” said Austin. 

Austin has many dreams, going into professional baseball being one of them. Playing for the Houston Astros would be a dream and is his biggest goal, according to Austin. 

“I refuse to quit until I make my dream come true and I will continue to succeed when I get there as well,” said Austin. 

Throughout his time at Ocean Lakes, he’s played on the varsity team since his freshman year and has only continued to grow as time moves on. 

“The best guys keep progressing in high school. When he gets to college, I think he will develop his base running there,” said head varsity baseball coach Peter Zell. “VMI is very top of the line in base running and base stealing so I think that will be a next-level thing for Austin.”