Coward, Sanks early college signees
Seneca Valley senior Connor Coward knew this day was coming for months.
It didn't hit him, though, until after the ink was dry.
“Walking through the halls,” Coward said. “I had a huge smile on my face.”
Coward, who dominated on the mound down the stretch last spring for the Raiders' baseball team, official signed with Division I Virginia Tech Wednesday.
Coward had committed to the school this summer after a strong season with Seneca Valley and the Pittsburgh Diamond Dawgs 17-and-under team.
Nine of the 15 players on the Diamond Dawgs committed to Division I schools, Coward said.
That was where Virginia Tech associate baseball coach Mike Kunigonis saw enough to offer Coward a spot on the team in 2015.
Coward's teammate last season on the Raiders, Gianpaul Gonzalez, also signed to go to a Division I baseball program. Gonzalez, who is now living in Puerto Rico, signed to play at Miami Dade, a Division I junior college.
Coward joins a long line of Seneca Valley baseball players to go Division I in the last 10 years.
“Obviously, it's an honor to be among those great players,” Coward said. “It is a testament to the program and the coaches at Seneca Valley.”
Coward's fastball is toping out in the low 90s these days after sitting in the mid-80s at this time last year.
Coward was injured and didn't pitch as a sophomore at Seneca Valley.
He hopes to add a little more to his velocity before his final season on the hill with the Raiders.“I'm a very goal-oriented person,” he said. “I set a go to get to 90 (mph) and I reached that. I'd like to get to 93 consistently.”He also has a very good curveball that was his out-pitch during his junior year to go with his fastball.Coward wasn't the only Butler County athlete to sign a Division I national letter of intent Wednesday.Celina Sanks, a senior middle hitter on the Knoch volleyball team, officially signed with Eastern Kentucky after committing to the school last spring.Sanks was a first team all-section player each of her final three seasons and was section Co-MVP as a senior.Also a two-year varsity captain who was named All-WPIAL last season and will likely repeat the honor this year, Sanks played outside hitter for the Pitt Premier Elite team and made the All-Natiomal Tournament team with Pitt Elite.Grove City pitcher Matt Gordon also signed Wednesday to attend Division I Binghamton University in New York.
