JACKSON TWP — Connor Coward sat down this winter, long before he threw his first pitch of the of the high school baseball season for Seneca Valley, and made a list.

On it were the names of 10 colleges he wanted to attend.

“They were my dream schools,” Coward said. “They were the schools that if any one of them made me an offer, I'd be excited to take it.”

They weren't just ordinary schools, not for a pitcher who threw zero innings during his sophomore season because of a balky back and not for a pitcher who was unproven and untested going into his junior campaign.

But Coward aimed high and Seneca Valley baseball coach Eric Semega showed faith in the right-hander.

Coward went 7-1 this season, his only loss to North Allegheny in the WPIAL Quad-A championship game. In his last start of the season, he went eight innings and struck out 13 in the Raiders' PIAA playoff loss in 10 innings to the Tigers.

And he got noticed by one of those 10 colleges on his list. Coward committed to Virginia Tech on Monday.

“It's really a dream come true,” Coward said. “I give a lot of the credit to Coach Semega for giving me the opportunity. Virginia Tech wouldn't have been able to come see me pitch, and I never would have had the chance to go there if it wasn't for him.”

Coward quickly became the ace of the staff, pitching in some of the biggest games of the season for the Raiders, who won 15 straight at one point.

“I'm much more comfortable on the mound than anywhere else on the field,” said Coward, who played the outfield as a sophomore. “The first game I pitched this season was against Shaler. I pitched four innings and threw pretty well. Coach Semega came to me and said, 'Hey, I want you to throw next week at (North Allegheny)' and I threw pretty well in that game, too. The next thing I know, he says, 'Hey, you're going to be the guy to throw in big games this year.'”

Coward jumped at the chance.

He is happiest with the ball in his hand on the mound in pressure situations, he said.

“That is my place on the team,” Coward said. “That's where I can help the most.”

Coward was dominant in the postseason. In his first two WPIAL victories, he one-hit Bethel Park and then blanked Pine-Richland with a four-hitter.

In the playoffs, Coward was 2-1 with 35 strikeouts and only seven walks in 27 innings of work.

Coward said he pitched the same in the two shutout wins as he did in the two games he started that the Raiders lost.

“I didn't pitch any worse in those two games against NA than I did against Bethel Park and Pine-Richland,” he said. “That's how baseball works, I guess.”

Coward has found success with an eclectic mix of pitches. He throws a fastball he can make move in and out, as well as a knuckle-curve, a circle-change and a sinker he uses in fastball counts to induce a ground ball.

He learned the knuckle-curve from former Major League pitcher and New Castle native Matt DeSalvo, who learned the pitch himself from former MLB hurler Mike Mussina.

“When I was 10 or 11, I threw a knuckleball and I thought that was best pitch ever,” Coward said. “Matt DeSalvo told me to just put one of the fingers down because that was how Mike Mussina throws it and it worked.”

Coward said hitters have told him that the pitch looks like fastball coming out of his hand, but tumbles off the table when it gets to the plate.

“It's my out pitch,” Coward said.

His fastball has been clocked in the low 90s and he said he figures to add more velocity as he matures and does more work to strengthen his arm.

His main goal in going to Virginia Tech is not to set himself up for a professional baseball career, but to get his degree in engineering.

“Academics mean much more to me,” Coward said.

Should a Major League Baseball opportunity arise some day, he's certainly not going to pass on it.

“My goal wasn't to play in the Big Leagues, but to just play baseball for as long as I can and to have baseball give me chance to get a great education.”