Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Pea Ridge’s Busey to pitch at UCA
PEA RIDGE — Tate Busey has played baseball since he was 6 years old and has dedicated himself to pursuing his dream of playing college baseball.
He realized that dream on Wednesday after signing a letter of intent to play baseball at University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
“Tate is an incredible competitor,” Blackhawk baseball coach Matt Easterling said. “We are very proud of Tate and his accomplishments and excited to see what this year has in store for him as well as his college career.”
Busey, a pitcher, said he received four offers but selected UCA because “they made it feel like home.”
He plans to major in exercise science and hopes to be a personal physical trainer.
“Baseball is my favorite sport. I’ve always watched it when I was little and playing it — it was fun to me,” he said.
He also played travel ball
ever since his T-ball days. With competition and training, he never takes a season off.
“It gets tiring, but it’s worth it in the end,” he said, advising young athletes that “if they have a dream of playing college baseball, chase it! All the hard work and dedication will pay off in the end.”
Busey has also worked with Brett Reynolds, a pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Reynolds, who graduated from Pea Ridge High School in 2003, was a pitcher, catcher, outfielder, shortstop — everything for the Blackhawks.
Reynolds went to Crowder College for two years, then to the University of Missouri in Columbia for a year before being drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006.
He played for the Diamondbacks for five years and now works for Clorox. He has worked with Busey for the past four or five years, he said.
“Tate has is a great kid, a hard worker — the sky is the limit for him,” Reynolds said. “Tate’s a perfectionist for himself. If he messes up on something, he does it again and again until he gets it right.”