Tampa Alonso '09 Catcher Adam Pendleton has verbally committed to play baseball at the University of Tampa in the 2009-2010 academic year. He looks forward to signing his National Letter of Intent in November.
Adam is a 6' 1" 200 lb. catcher, and is entering his 4th year on the Alonso Varsity squad. He has been the starting catcher for Coach Landy Faedo's Ravens since his sophomore season. The foundation he received from Coach Faedo has been significant in providing Adam this great opportunity.
Adam looks forward to playing for Coach Joe Urso and his staff, and gaining a great education from the University as its academic reputation is excellent. Also very important in the decision to attend UT is the baseball Coaching Staff, who run one of the best programs in Florida with well known championship caliber teams year in and year out.
We want to thank everyone on this board for all of the help we received over the last 4 years. While we have not participated in discussions, we certainly have "lurked" and learned what was most important:
1) Academics - it is STUDENT - athlete 2) To go where you are wanted 3) To pick the school based on coaches who have a proven track record that they care about their players for the long term 4) Trust your instinct when it comes to fit (campus size, cultural diversity, facilities, team, coaches, academics)
Bob, you are correct. Adam played with the December 2003 Australia Rookie team as a 13 year old in Adelaide and Perth.
We remain close friends with Charlie Aliano to this day as a result of that trip, as he lives right up the road from us in Land O' Lakes near Tampa. Charlie was part of our decision making process for UT and he seems very excited to make the Australia trip with you again this December.
Australia was quite an eye opening experience for Adam and introduced him to a bigger part of the mental side of baseball.
Thanks for the note and good luck to you in keeping the international game exciting for future players.
