Seventeen-year-old Thunder Mountain High School pitcher Philip Wall won’t have a long offseason this year.
Wall signed a letter of intent to play baseball at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul Wednesday in the TMHS auditorium.
“I’m really proud of him because he did all the things to make it happen and it just shows his motivation,” Thunder Mountain baseball coach Bill Macauley said.
Wall will finish out his high school career this season with the Falcons, play in his second season with the American Legion Post 25 in the summer, and relocate to St. Paul, Minnesota, in time for an August orientation date.
UNW-St. Paul, a small Christian college in the Twin Cities, competes in both the NCAA and NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association). Its baseball team plays in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference as an NCAA Division III program.
Wall is homeschooled but played high school tennis for JDHS for three seasons. After opting to play baseball for the Falcons over Crimson Bears, Wall was not allowed to play on the varsity team for another year due to ASAA regulations. Wall impressed his coaches during his first mound appearance early in the season.
“He was an ace pitcher after the first game, after we found out what we had,” Macauley said.
Wall was also part of the American Legion Post 25 team that went 28-3 last season and lost in the playoffs. He went 6-0 as a starter with a 0.68 earned run average.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Philip Wall played tennis for JDHS in 2014 and 2015. He played tennis at JDHS in 2013, 2015, and 2016. This article has been updated to reflect the change. The Empire regrets the error.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
