A trio of Spanish Springs student-athletes made their college plans official on Thursday afternoon at a school signing ceremony.
Ryan Anderson, a 6-6 lefty on the baseball team, highlighted the group. He made his plans to continue his career at Nevada official after verbally committing to the Wolf Pack on Friday.
He also weighed offers from Kansas and a handful of other Mountain West programs.
“I was just going back and forth, thinking about the positives and negatives between each school. And Nevada turned out on top,” Anderson said. “So I picked Nevada.”
By choosing to attend Nevada, Anderson is continuing a family tradition of playing for the Wolf Pack. His father played baseball at Nevada from 1985-87, his mother played volleyball 1986-87 and his sister, Lyndsey, is currently a junior setter on the volleyball team.
“It’s cool to keep the legacy going,” Anderson said. “Maybe my kids will play there or something like that. That’d be cool.”
In addition to Anderson, two Spanish Springs softball players locked in their college plans. Pitcher Hayley Fein signed at California State University-Monterey Bay and utility player Bailey Ivory committed to Caldwell University in New Jersey.
Both schools are NCAA Div. II affiliates.
Fein, who was the DI North Pitcher of the Year last season, verbally committed as a junior but said it was still a relief to put a period on the recruiting process.
She also weighed interest from Whitworth University (Spokane, Wash.) and a number of east coast schools.
“It feels amazing,” she said. “The recruitment process is so long and it just feels nice to get it off my shoulders.
“I love it (there). The atmosphere is great. The team, the coaches are so welcoming. And I didn’t want to go too far from home.”
The drive from Reno to Monterey Bay is a little more than five hours, a relatively quick trip compared to the trek Ivory is making across the country.
Ivory chose Caldwell while getting looks from Redlands, Tulane and Cornell College (a private school in Iowa).
“It feels really good to be honest,” Ivory said. “I’ve always wanted to go to the east coast.”
Caldwell’s campus is less than half an our from New York City which was one of the biggest reasons she chose the school.
“I’ve visited New York City twice now and I definitely just love the atmosphere,” she said.
[…] After finishing sixth in the DI North last season, the Cougs will look for senior ace Ryan Anderson to carry the brunt of the load. Anderson, a lanky 6-6 southpaw, is committed to pitch for Nevada next year. […]