Mavrick Rizy is on the geaux, as the Worcester Academy hurler commits to Louisiana State University
When Mavrick Rizy re-opened the collegiate recruiting process in mid-July, the biggest reason was to be certain the next stop in his athletic and academic journey was a place that felt like home.
The 6-foot-9, 230-pound right-handed pitcher from Fiskdale was looking to experience the same feeling he had four years ago when he arrived at Worcester Academy for the first time. And that was just the case when he made an official visit to Louisiana State University earlier this month.
“As soon as I stepped on campus down in Baton Rouge, I got that same feeling,” Rizy, 18, said Tuesday afternoon between a break in classes at WA, where’s he’s a reclassified senior. “To be far away is one thing, but to truly feel at home in another place is what I need to feel.”
On Monday, Rizy, who verbally committed to UConn following his freshman year, made the decision to attend LSU and play for the defending national champion Tigers beginning in the fall of 2024.
Rizy also visited fellow SEC heavyweights Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, both of whom were in his final three, and considered Miami and Ole Miss.
“It was definitely a hard decision,” Rizy said. “But what LSU brings to the table between their pitching coach (Nate Yeskie), strength coach (Travis Roy) and athletic trainer (Isaac Trujillo), they all work together watching every bullpen and every single thing you do. So, the room for development there is through the roof.”
i’m home, geaux tigers 🐅 pic.twitter.com/sr2Ejctvvf
— Mavrick Rizy (@MavrickRizy) September 18, 2023
Then there was coach Jay Johnson, a California native who has guided the Tigers to a 94-39 record in his first two seasons and saw 13 of his players get selected in the MLB Draft in July, including pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews, who went 1-2, respectively.
Johnson kept in constant contact with Rizy during the get-to-know process with the two having a couple of “great conversations” that had little to do with baseball.
“It wasn’t a recruiting pitch with them,” Rizy said. “Their biggest thing is they want to find the right guys relationship-wise. … He wanted to know about my family, everything I like to do outside of baseball. I guess the connection with him really drew me toward them, as well.”
As for his family, Rizy’s parents, Chris and Kelly, were well aware of their youngest son’s desire to play in the SEC and at the best baseball school he could.
So, they’re prepared for the frequent flyer miles to start piling up in the not-so-distant future.
“Obviously, they wish I was close to home,” Rizy said, “but they’re going to try to be there every weekend come the season.
“They said, ‘We’re going to make it work because we truly want you to be happy and give you the best experience you can possibly get.’ They were very supportive and very understanding in the whole process.”
Classes began last month at WA, and Rizy is taking creative writing, engineering, forensic science, and history of sports. He’s considering majoring in biology at LSU after developing an interest in medicine and the medical field.
As for baseball, Rizy is expected to resume throwing next week after shutting it down in early August following a busy summer during which he showcased his repertoire of a 94-mph, four-seam fastball, sinker, slider and curveball in Dallas, Seattle, Phoenix, San Diego, and, whew, Alabama.
That came after helping the Hilltoppers win the Central New England Prep School Baseball League championship at Gaskill Field.
“Just giving myself time to truly train and get stronger,” said Rizy, who has been working out, for the second year now, at Exceed Sports Performance & Fitness in Westborough.
“They’ve been absolutely amazing,” he said of the Exceed staff.
—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RichGarvenTG.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester Academy baseball star commits to defending national champions LSU
