Choudrant stars sign with college programs
Choudrant baseball seniors (from left) Gavin Murphy, Landon Hennen and Bryce McGuire signed to continue to play baseball at the college level Monday. Leader photo by Matt Belinson
The leading trio for the Choudrant baseball team officially put pen to paper Monday and signed their national letters of intent to play baseball at the college level.
Gavin Murphy and Bryce McGuire will both attend South Arkansas College in El Dorado, Arkansas, while Landon Hennen signed with National Park College in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Both programs compete in the Division II level in the National Junior College Athletic Association.
Murphy has been the starting catcher for Choudrant over the last two seasons, while Hennen and McGuire are one and two in the batting order and on the pitching staff. It’s a feat not lost on Choudrant head coach Joel Antley, who spoke ahead of the signing to thank his veteran players.
“They have won two state championships in a row and right now they are sitting number one in our division looking to do another unprecedented three in a row,” Joel said. “These guys have worked as much as anyone we’ve ever had.”
Outside of their athletic abilities, Antley highlighted that each player has a current GPA above a 4.0, with McGuire holding a 4.24 GPA, Murphy at 4.15, and Hennen at 4.04.
McGuire and Murphy are excited to get the chance to spend more time of their athletic and academic journeys together at South Arkansas and try and make it to a four- year program in due time.
“Really excited,” Murphy said. “This is what I dreamed of my whole life, and I want to commit here because I feel like it’s going to enhance me as a player and as a person.”
McGuire said the two didn’t plan on going to school together — it just worked that way. But he’s not complaining about spending more time with a lifelong friend.
“I’m pretty excited to be able to go and play at the next level,” McGuire said. “ He’s ( Murphy) been my catcher since we were nine years old, and I’ve known him pretty much all my life.”
McGuire said South Arkansas will allow him to start as a twoway player and will give him time to decide if he wants to stick with it or transition to being exclusively a pitcher.
In 30 regular season games, McGuire hit .418 with 28 RBIs, all while pitching 53 2/3 innings with a 0.51 ERA with a team-leading 69 strikeouts.
Murphy finished the regular season hitting .393 with 33 RBIs and 4 home runs.
As for Hennen, he’ll also be given the opportunity to start as a two- way player at National Park College and was glad to finally make his dream come true and know he’s got a secure future ahead of him.
“It’s been a long time waiting but it feels good though, finally getting it done,” Hennen said Monday. “They’re gonna let me play two-way, so that’s going to be nice, and they’ve got some nice facilities.”
Hennen hit .450 in the regular season with a team-leading 40 RBIs to go with 3 home runs. On the mound, he threw 45 innings and allowed 6 earned runs (1.20 ERA) while striking out 58 batters.
Choudrant (26-4) is the No. 1 team in Division V Non-select heading into today’s LHSAA playoff bracket release and will receive a first-round bye as the team tries to win three state championships in a row.
