BARNESVILLE — Luke Eddy appeared to be one his way to a fine prep baseball career at Barnesville.

After lettering as a freshman, Eddy posted a 4-0 record on the mound as a sophomore.

Things changed quickly, however, during Eddy’s junior season.

While pitching in a game against Union Local, Eddy suffered a serious arm injury, which sidelined him for the remainder of that season and obviously the 2020 season was wiped out by COVID-19.

However, Eddy’s playing career is far from over. He recently announced his decision to play at Mount Union where he’ll be a candidate for the Purple Raiders pitching staff.

The combination of that junior season and not having the opportunity to play this spring is actually what served as two of the key factors in leading him to Alliance.

“I wasn’t really sure, at first, if I wanted to go on and play in college,” Eddy said. “But, after not having a season, it really put it into perspective that anything could go bad at any point, so I was motivated to keep playing.”

It didn’t take Eddy long upon visiting Mount Union to realize that it was the place for him.

“The environment and the way (the campus) made me feel like home pretty much helped me to make up my mind immediately,” Eddy said.

Eddy’s received a clean bill of health from his 2019 injury. He only logged 34 and a third innings during his career with the Shamrocks.

“I would say I had a pretty good high school career, but missing both my junior and senior seasons was hard because I had higher expectations of myself and for our team this past season.”

He finished with 35 strikeouts and just five walks to go along with a 2.44 earned run average.

“Luke has always been a model of consistency,” Barnesville head coach D.J. Butler said. “He did not have over-powering velocity through his first two years, but he knew how to pitch and was able to get hitters out with location, movement and by executing his off-speed pitches.

” I am really excited to see what he can accomplish at Mount Union because I think his work ethic and knowledge on the mound will allow him to have a successful career.”

Eddy has increased his velocity, but he would like to increase that some more before the spring season arrives with the Purple Raiders.

“I hope my overall game improves and I’m able to be an arm that they can rely on, whether it’s as a starter or as a reliever.

“I want (the coaches) to get to the point where they are comfortable with me at any time.”

Along with baseball, Eddy was a member of the Varsity B and an honor roll student.

Luke, who is the son of Jennifer Eddy and Jason Eddy, plans to major in sports management.