Eli Callendar commits to South-Ark

Choudrant’s pipeline of college pitching prospects will continue as senior Eli Callendar signed his commitment on the dotted line to South Arkansas Community College Wednesday afternoon.

With a 3.66 ERA and over 60 strikeouts and just 6 walks in 49 2/3 innings this season, Callendar hopes to carry over his years of confident outings for the Aggies to ‘Choudrant north’ campus at South Arkansas, joining two other former Aggies Bryce McGuire and Gavin Murphy.

Callendar cracked a smile as soon as he was asked why he committed to South-Arkansas – knowing he has former teammates waiting for him to make his transition easier.

“It’s a good feeling knowing that I have guys that are up there that I can trust and count on and just having people there that I’m comfortable with,” Callendar said. “I met the coach and he’s just like coach Antley – Tony – and he’s one of the nicest men you’ll ever meet and he’s a really good coach and it seemed like a good fit for me going up there.”

Callendar has over 100 strikeouts and just 25 earned runs over his last two seasons as a dependable arm for the Aggies in their years of postseason glory, including this season as a shutdown ace – averaging 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Joel Antley, Callendar’s current head coach, was proud to see another of his program’s best pitchers pursue their dreams at the next level.

And if Callendar pitches close to what he’s been for the Aggies, Antley said the Stars are in for a treat.

“Every time he goes out there, I’m a firm believer if we score two runs, we’re probably going to win. We score three runs, it’s about a 95 percent chance we’re going to win because he has been pitching so fantastically that if he’s not walking people, they’re not scoring runs,” Antley said.

“Not only has he been effective, but he’s also been efficient. If you walk six people in close to 50 innings, that’s pretty fantastic. We’re all really excited that Eli’s going to get to continue and we’re really excited he’s not too far away – that way we can still see him go. I have no doubt in my mind he’s going to be fantastic because he’s proved that throughout this year every time we bring him out on the mound he has shut people down.”

Callendar said if he’s going to take anything with him from his time at Choudrant, it will be to trust himself like his coaches do.

He’s made it to the next level for a reason.

“Being confident in myself,” Callendar said. “Making it the distance in the state championships I went into and just knowing that I can do it and I can make it up there and be able to strike out college guys because it’s a whole different level up there and knowing that I can do it and not be down on myself.”