Holland Christian's Hudson Lubbers all about pitching as he commits to college ranks
GRAND RAPIDS - Hudson Lubbers isn’t usually hanging out by the bat rack when he’s in the dugout.
Does the Holland Christian pitcher even own a bat?
“I don’t even know,” Maroons coach Ty VanWieren said with a laugh. “We do have a bet that if he can hit a home run during practice, I won’t DH for him anymore. But it hasn’t happened yet.”
It’s a good thing Lubbers is a really good pitcher then.
On Thursday, Lubbers, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound right-hander, committed to play baseball at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids.
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“For me, the search for a college took a super-long time,” Lubbers said. “It took a lot of prayer and talking to my family about it. After looking at other colleges, the NAIA looked the best and Aquinas was the best fit for me. I visited there and practiced with the team and I really like it there.”
It wasn’t an easy process either.
“It was really stressful since the start of the year,” he said. “I’m the the type of person that will over analyze everything. When I went to practice with them a month-and-a-half ago, I felt a lot better. It felt right.”
VanWieren was happy that Lubbers can just focus on his senior season now. In five starts this season, Lubbers is 3-1 with a 1.00 ERA. In 28 innings, he has 21 strikeouts.
“I was super-pumped for him,” VanWieren said. “He realized in the offseason, if he worked really hard, there could be an opportunity for him. The recruiting process can be harder on some kids. I think he’s just relieved that it happened. He loved Aquinas.”
The Saints, which are coached by Chris LaMange, are 18-14 in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference and 27-25 so far this season.
Lubbers will have to borrow a bat this year if he gets an at-bat.
“We gave him a few at-bats last year,” VanWieren said. “We’ll see if we can get him a few more this year. But he embraces it. Some kids will be down that they are just a pitcher. But he loves being the PO (pitcher only).”
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hudson Lubbers all about pitching as he commits to college ranks
