By Matt Hicks —<\/p>\n
Conlan Taylor is excited to take the next step in his baseball career.<\/p>\n
The Owego Free Academy senior signed his National Letter of Intent to play Division I baseball with the Binghamton University Bearcats on Monday, Jan. 27, in the OFA lobby, surrounded by family, coaches, and peers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been my dream since I was a kid,\u201d Taylor said, adding, \u201cIt feels good to make it official.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the things that attracted Taylor to BU was its close proximity to the Owego area, allowing his \u201chuge baseball family\u201d to cheer him on from the stands.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up, my brother (Patton) played at Penn State, so I was six years old watching those games like, I want to do this,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cI got to work and tried to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taylor also credited his coaches at OFA for inspiring him and developing his skills along the way.<\/p>\n
Coach Nick Wegmann said Taylor has been a huge asset to the River Hawks team, both from the pitcher\u2019s mound and at the plate as a batter.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs much as we\u2019re going to miss his presence on the field, we\u2019re going to miss his presence at practice, we\u2019re going to miss his presence in the dugout,\u201d Wegmann said. \u201cHe leads by example, pulls guys along with him, does all the right things.\u201d <\/p>\n
Like other OFA graduates who have gone on to play Division I athletics, Wegmann said Taylor is an example of how players from a small school can achieve that dream as long as they put in the extra work.<\/p>\n
Director of Athletics Ryan Hallenbeck said he couldn\u2019t think of anyone more deserving of this opportunity than Taylor.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs AD, I leave campus many nights late, and I\u2019m always thinking, \u2018Who\u2019s here?\u2019 And I look out at the baseball field, and it\u2019s Conlan putting in the extra reps,\u201d Hallenbeck said, adding, \u201cHe puts in all of the unseen hours; for all the athletes sitting here who want to do these things, that\u2019s what you have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that he\u2019s signed the dotted line, Taylor \u2013 who plans to major in Biology \u2013 is looking forward to meeting new people at BU and playing the sport he loves at the highest collegiate level.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Matt Hicks — Conlan Taylor is excited to take the next step in his baseball career. The Owego Free Academy senior signed his National…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":104641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n