Right in front of the pitcher’s mound, Caldwell County senior Tate VanHooser held his signing ceremony on Wednesday.
VanHooser is headed to Rend Lake College to play baseball. But it’s not to pitch, it’s primarily to hit what is pitched.
Numerous teammates, friends and family members turned out for the ceremony at the VFW Ballpark.
VanHooser is hitting .400 this season for Caldwell, with five doubles, a triple and nine runs batted in.
However, he has yet to homer this season as most teams typically pitch around him.
There’s good reason for that.
VanHooser slammed 10 home runs in the 2019 season. That set a new Caldwell County single-season mark as he helped the Tigers go 18-16 and reach the championship game of the 2nd Region tournament before falling to Hopkinsville.
VanHooser also led the Tigers that season with a .454 batting average and 35 runs batted in.
As a freshman in 2018, VanHooser hit .286 with one home run while driving in 18.
The 2020 high school baseball season was wiped out by COVID-19.
VanHooser joins a lengthy list of Tigers who have chosen the junior college in Ina, Ill.
Former Tigers who have signed with Rend Lake the last few years include Bryce Thomas, Jase Felker, Noah Brown, Gabe East and Bryar Riley.
Rend Lake is an NJCAA school which competes in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference.
VanHooser is a rare four-sport athlete at Caldwell County this school year.
VanHooser was named to the All-WKC First Team as a member of the Caldwell football program this fall. He played one match with the CCHS golf team before playing for the Tiger basketball team and averaging 6.6 points and 6.4 rebounds a game.
Tate is a son of Ben and Holly VanHooser of Princeton.
