In the upcoming season, the Greenville University Baseball Team will be a young team with a lot of freshmen and sophomores. However, the big task will be for the upperclassmen to take charge and lead this young team. That is where 5th year senior Parker Lutz will have a lot to offer this year’s young baseball team.
Parker Lutz hails from Steeleville, IL where he was recruited to be an outfielder/pitcher for the Greenville Baseball Team. Lutz decided early on that he would be most effective as a pitcher and made that transition to benefit the team. Early in Lutz’s career, he faced some real adversity with an arm injury. Unfortunately, in his first year at Greenville University, he was forced to redshirt after undergoing Tommy John surgery. “This was the lowest point in my baseball career at Greenville, but I made the most of the situation by supporting the team in any way that I could,” said Lutz. Fortunately, during this difficult year, he was able to watch and learn what it takes for a college baseball team to make it all the way to a conference championship.
In sports, it is crucial for a team to have a leader who takes charge and is able to help the younger guys on the team improve over a long season. That is what Lutz will be attempting to do during this upcoming spring. Having been to a conference championship every year that he has gone to Greenville University, he knows what it takes for a team to go and compete at that level. “I feel that this year, even though we are a young ball club, we have a lot of guys on the team who will be making a huge impact for us come conference time,” says Lutz. Teammates like Noah Casali have already seen that Lutz is a driving force for the team’s improvement, and he comments, ”Parker Lutz is a guy that I can count on not only in-game, but also is someone who thrives in the offseason. Parker does a good job trying to get the younger guys on the team to get into the weight room so that they can be ready physically come springtime.”
Sports have become a passion for Lutz, and he is planning to graduate from Greenville University with a sports management degree. Coaching is one area that Lutz is considering pursuing as a job in the future. Lutz has volunteered at a local baseball facility and coached youth baseball over the past four years. He was very passionate about his future as a coach, and he recalls, “I feel that coaching is something that I have always wanted to pursue because it truly is a passion of mine to help guys progress and reach their dreams in sports. I have helped guys not only on the Greenville Baseball Team get better during the offseason, but have helped guys over the summer I’ve coached that have made it into college programs. Ultimately, as a coach, I want to help young athletes become the best that they can be and prepare them for life after baseball.”
Media by Dustin Phelps.
