Multi-sport Paraclete star to play at Oregon school
Paraclete grad Edwards to play at Pacific
LANCASTER — Paraclete graduate Hunter Edwards turned to an alternative recruiting tool during the COVID pandemic and it paid off.
The two-sport athlete turned to a college recruiting aid and the twoyear varsity pitcher at Paraclete posted videos on its app that ultimately attracted the attention of Pacific University in Oregon.
Edwards signed a National Letter of Intent to the NCAA Division III school in the spring and will play both baseball and football at the university located in Forest Grove, Oregon.
“There’s an app called FieldLevel, they saw my film on there and then texted me,” Edwards said. “It was probably their coaching staff, absolutely loved them. I felt like I was a family when I was there, instantly. I enjoyed being there, once I was there.”
Edwards said he first went on the FieldLevel app when he first joined Trosky Baseball, a recruiting organization, in 2020.
“When the app was getting popular, they told us to sign up,” Edwards said. “I signed up and our coach would release to colleges our profile and then the college coaches could look at it.
“You put videos out there for coaches to look at. Depending on their search engine, depends on how you pop up, kind of like Google for
athletes.”
Edwards said athletes are not limited in the number of videos they can post on the FieldLevel app.
“You could put as many as you want,” Edwards said. “I would put some, whenever I got some that were good quality. There was one video
that I posted that got a good amount of views. That’s the one that got me pretty much to Pacific. It was just my most recent video of a bullpen.”
Edwards happened to be in Oregon on a different recruiting trip when he was contacted by Pacific.
“I was up in Oregon at that time too. I think that was in September. I was already up in Oregon visiting a different school and they texted me and I was like ‘I’m already here.’ And I went and visited them,” he said.
Edwards said he was exploring different ways to attract the attention of college coaches during the COVID pandemic and he got a good amount of responses through the FieldLevel app.
“You’re limited on what you have to offer, to show yourself to those colleges, so you try to take as many opportunities as you can,” he said. “I got a good amount of colleges to respond and talk to me.”
Edwards finished 8-3 on the mound his senior season in 10 starts and 14 appearances, with a 1.91 ERA. He threw six complete games and two shutouts.
He struck out 53 batters in 73.1 innings, walking 20.
The Spirits finished 20-5 overall, second in the Gold Coast League at 11-1 and advanced to the CIFSouthern
Section Division 4 semifinals, losing to Royal 4-1 on June 15.
Edwards started just two games his junior year, the 2020 season that was abbreviated by the pandemic. The Spirits finished 7-2 when the season was stopped.
Edwards finished 2-0 with a 2.10 ERA in 13.1 innings.
“We really didn’t see much of what he was able to do last year because we were so sure and we had a couple of older pitchers,” Paraclete baseball coach Greg Burnias said. “This year, he’s just come out and been really good for us on the mound. His maturity in not only balancing baseball and football, just in the questions he asks me. He’s very cerebral about the game. He wants to understand the intricacies of the game. He wants to be able to really understand the why behind it and I truly believe he is a student of the game and somebody who, as he’s able to get more knowledge at the next level, is only going to become more effective.”
While Edwards was a twosport standout at Paraclete High, he initially signed to play just baseball at Pacific University. It wasn’t until after he signed the National Letter of Intent that it was finalized that he could also continue to play football at the college level.
Edwards was a three-year varsity player on the football team, playing wide receiver and free safety/defensive back his first two years.
Edwards, 6-foot, 8-inches, played quarterback his senior year, completing 52of-84 passes for 699 yards and four touchdowns in the abbreviated spring season, during which the Spirits finished 3-3.
“I don’t know too many kids who can do two sports in the same season and be a starter for two guys,” Burnias said. “He puts in the time. He’s at my practices earlier. He’s at football practices earlier. He’s sprinting and changing his top as he’s running from one practice to another. It’s just his dedication to try and do both without sacrificing any time at either one is really awesome to see.”
Edwards said he wants to major in criminal justice and that influenced his decision in choosing a college.
“It did, because some colleges didn’t have the major,” Edwards said. “It was more like the minor at some of the colleges, so I wanted to make sure they had my major and when I got my degree there it would be sufficient to get my job.”
Edwards said he was influenced by his father, who is a police officer, which is what Hunter wants to become.