Lebanon's Huntsman signs with Earlham
Apr. 19—LEBANON — Cayman Huntsman has been a valuable piece to the Lebanon baseball team over the past three seasons.
Now, he is going to have the opportunity to showcase his talents at the next level.
Huntsman signed with Earlham College to continue his academic and athletic careers. He had a signing ceremony at the school on Wednesday afternoon.
"I like that I was able to finalize it early in the high school season, so I can just focus on playing and having fun, rather than worrying about my recruitment," Huntsman said. "I like that it is behind me, and now I can focus on winning and trying to get that sectional championship again."
Earlham is an NCAA Division III school that plays in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
They are 14-12 so far this year under head coach Steve Sakosits.
Huntsman said several things stood out about the school compared to some of the other schools that were recruiting him.
"I really liked their athletic facilities," Huntsman said. "Their coaches are really cool and they were all in on me. They really spent a lot of time trying to get to know me, and I loved that about them. It showed that they really wanted me."
After missing his freshman year due to the COVID pandemic, Huntsman has been a key part of the Tigers since.
Through eight games this season he is batting a team-best .458 with a triple and two doubles. He has driven in four and scored seven.
In 6.2 innings pitched, he has allowed just two earned runs, striking out 11.
"I have really developed a strong arm over the past few years," Huntsman said. "I am just starting to pitch more this year, so next year they were going to expand my pitching a little more and get me on the mound. Hopefully I can get in the rotation."
Huntsman said he is focused on a couple of things this year as he gets ready to make the jump to the next level.
"I have focused a lot on working with my team," Huntsman said. "I can only control what I can control, but if someone else makes an error, I got to try to keep them up and focused. I have focused on that a lot this year, just being a leader that can keep the team going and staying positive."
When looking back at his time at Lebanon, Huntsman said he is going to leave with a lot of great memories from playing with his teammates, many of whom have played with him for years.
"We had a travel team back when we were about 12, and had a core group that was a lot of fun to play with," Huntsman said. "I have great memories with them."
Huntsman plans on studying something in engineering.
Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.
