Gordon Lee’s Ethan Clark earns his Governorship
Gordon Lee Trojan senior pitcher Ethan Clark officially signed his letter of intent with Austin Peay this past Wednesday, nearly 16 months after committing verbally to the NCAA Division I Governors prior to his junior season.
“It’s just a big relief off my shoulders,” he said before a signing ceremony attended by teammates, family, friends and supporters. “Now that I have this out of the way, I can just focus on this upcoming high school season and then after that I can start focusing on college.”
Clark was a Walker County Dream Team pick last spring and hit .309 with 17 RBIs. However, he also shined on the hill, going 7-1 with a 2.06 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 54.1 innings for the Region 7-2A champions.
As a travel ball player, he was named Most Valuable Player of the East Cobb Invitational in 2015 and he was also a Perfect Game USA PreSeason High School Underclassmen AllAmerican Honorable Mention selection prior to his junior year.
“I was talking to a bunch of teams during that summer, but (Austin Peay) reminded me a lot of Chickamauga,” he explained. “It felt like home. Plus they had some (recent) success, going to the (NCAA) regionals three straight times (2010-2012), so I liked the winning tradition.”
Clark, who plays for Xposure baseball, said it was a game against
one of his current Gordon Lee teammates during a summer league game when he said he knew he was good enough to pitch on the Division I level.
“Chaney (Rogers) plays one of the best (travel ball) teams in the country, but I went up there and shut them out one time,” he recalled. “Once that happened, I knew I was good enough because of all the great players they had.
“We kept rolling that season. I went head-tohead with a lefty that’s going to TCU. We had a seven-inning pitchers’ duel and I beat him, although the hitters on my team had something to do with that too. I just really started to perform a lot better the summer after my sophomore year.”
“Ethan is a highenergy kid and a fierce competitor,” Gordon Lee head coach Mike Dunfee said. “I think that smaller (college town) setting is a better fit for him. He’s got a big baseball IQ because he’s been playing high-level baseball ever since he was seven or eight years old.
“He’s a very bright young man academically too and he has a bright future. It just depends on how hard he works and how bad he wants it.”
Clark said he wants to one day become a physical therapist.