BUTLER TWP — Dustin "Bubba" Uhlman was constructed to be a baseball player — and he just keeps getting better.

The 2009 Butler graduate is headed to Washington & Jefferson College this fall to major in pre-health and to play baseball.

He won the Youngstown Class B Wooden Bat League batting title this summer, hitting .617 in 26 games. He also led the 10-team circuit with a .933 slugging percentage and .703 on-base percentage while playing for Roth Brothers.

Five players from that league were selected in Major League Baseball's amateur draft last month and 50 players have moved on to college baseball in the past year.

"(Former Butler player) Andy Onufrak, a good friend of mine, played for Roth and told me how good the competition was," Uhlman said. "I like to challenge myself and I wanted to experience playing with wooden bats."

Uhlman hit over .400 for Roth last summer and finished among the league's top five in batting. He hit .452 for Butler's WPIAL semifinalist team this spring.

An outfielder, Uhlman always has been able to hit. He recalls hitting below .400 only one season in his life, when he batted .350 his junior year with the Golden Tornado.

"I played most of that year with a splint on a broken finger," he recalled.

Injuries have been the only thing to slow Uhlman's productivity at the plate. Jay Fennell, his Little League coach, said Uhlman was leading all of WPIAL Class AAAA in batting with a .550 average as a sophomore before a pulled muscle hampered him with five games left in the season.

"His father used to bring in former professional or college pitchers and pay them to pitch to his son," Fennell said. "Bubba grew up facing much better pitching than he would see in actual games."

Uhlman's father is a doctor and Uhlman hopes to follow in his footsteps — so much so that he opted for W&J's pre-health program after paying official baseball visits to Villanova and Notre Dame.

"W&J's academic program fit me perfectly and it was close to home," Uhlman said. "I would have loved playing Division I baseball, but that's not why I'm going to college."

Uhlman carried a 4.3 grade point average in high school and wants to go on to medical school — if a pro baseball opportunity doesn't happen first.

"His education takes priority over baseball," Butler coach Dave Florie said. "Bubba has high goals for his vocation."

Don't feel too badly for Uhlman's baseball career, however. W&J is coming off a school-record 35-win season under veteran coach Jeff Mountain, who won his fourth Presidents' Athletic Conference title in six years.

Mountain is 183-113-1 in seven years at W&J and the Presidents return all nine starters and six of their top eight pitchers next year.

"My goal is to get on the field and play right away," Uhlman said. "I'm told they have a shortage of outfielders overall and that no player is guaranteed a starting spot from year to year."

That suits Uhlman just fine, since his hitting improves from year to year.

"I met him when he was a freshman and he already had a beautiful swing," Florie said. "It's become a more productive swing as time goes on.

"Bubba works at his game. He's taken hitting lessons and he opted to play against the best competition he could find. Driving to Youngstown to play ball every day ... it's clearly paid off for him."

The ultimate decision for Uhlman four years from now? Medical school or a professional baseball contract.

"Your body only allows you to play baseball for so long," Uhlman said. "If my skills progress to that point, I'll take my shot. I can always come back and finish my education."

Uhlman also plays the guitar and does vocals in a small band with some friends.

Any possibilities there?

"I take things as they come in life," Uhlman said, unable to hide a grin.